


30 Days of Thoschei (Christmas Edition 2020)

by VortexSwirl_24



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bandaging wounds, Blood and Injury, But theyre're horrible at hiding it, Christmas Cookies, Christmas Decorations, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Lists, Christmas Presents, Dark Thirteenth Doctor, Developing Friendships, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, First Christmas, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Ice Skating, Idiots in Love, Implied/Referenced Suicide attempt, Mutual Pining, New Year's Fluff, New Year's Kiss, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Episode: s12e10 The Timeless Children, Science that is relatively accurate but we're not getting into that rn, Secret Relationship, Snowball Fight, Soft Master (Doctor Who), Some Plot, Tags May Change, The Master's Drums (Doctor Who), Thoschei, Time Lord Telepathy (Doctor Who), Why did I leave out the important tags?, Wish Fulfillment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:20:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 22,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27764374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VortexSwirl_24/pseuds/VortexSwirl_24
Summary: Most of these will be Christmas themed in some way and some not. If this gets enough hits I'll probably do a Christmas and New Years Day special too. I'll try to update once a day but if I miss a day, I'll just post two chapters the next day.
Relationships: The Doctor/The Master (Doctor Who), Thirteenth Doctor/The Master (Dhawan)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 31





	1. A Different Christmas

The Doctor had allowed the Master to stay in a guest room within the TARDIS ever since she found him stranded on an alien planet who weren't exactly rhe friendliest to their intruders no matter how desperate the convict may be. 

Needless to say, Yaz, Ryan and Graham weren't so keen on the idea of allowing a completely unfamilar person, who had recently committed genocide, tried to assassinate all of them and, in general, seemed way out of his mind, to stay anywhere near them.

Even being on the same planet as the Master was terrifying

When they'd heard of their new guest, they gave every reason in the book as to why they should reject the Master, but the Doctor had foreseen this, preparing well rehearsed lies and exaggerations, ultimately persuading (*guilt-tripping) the three companions into going along with it.

The Master, when he arrived, seemed alot less threatening than they had remembered. He seemed... lost... dazed... broken. Compared to the destructive villain he had protrayed before, he gave the impression that he was too weak to defend himself from any threat. It seemed as if any one of them could bring him down without trying. Usually it was the other way around.

They were alot more empathetic towards him but still remained cautious around him, as if suspecting that he were luring them into a trap created only to lead them to a horrible fate, this time succeeding in his twisted trick.

He cluched a small, dust charcoal black backpack in his hands and had dark rings around his eyes showing evidence that he hadn't slept in a long time. A very, very long time. The Master's clothes were ripped in multiple places, and stained in a shady brown with, where the clothing was torn significantly, and covered in a thick layer of dust. 

The Master avoided all eye contact and limped slightly, trying to suppress the agony and pain he was in, and gave the perception that he was overall in only slight pain and stronger than he really was.

The Doctor had helped and guided him to the new TARDIS room that she had asked (and debated for a good 35 minutes for) the TARDIS to create. Eventually, the room was morphed and everything was in order. He muttered a barely audible thanks then walked into the room, shutting it behind him slowly. 

As soon as she returned to the console, the companions bombarded her with tons and tons of questions. All of which, relating to the Master's state.

Yaz was first to speak ."What happened to the Master?"

"Last time we saw him, he was going to destroy your home planet, Gallifrey. Is that what caused him to look like that?" Graham said.

At this, The Doctor lifted her head slightly and stopped fiddling with the millions of levers, switches and buttons didn't speak for a moment as if she were structuring an appropriate response in her mind.

"I don't know any more than you do," she said finally before returning to the controls.

"What are you doing?" asked Ryan. They'd began to recognise when the Doctor was lying, noticing small, seemingly insignificant, details that distingished whether she was telling a lie or not.

"Just checking the TARDIS to see if there was any problems caused by picking up the Master from that planet" she said plainly. 

They all agreed unanimously that there was more history between the Doctor and the Master than they let on. 

Later on, the Doctor explained that she had decided to spend Christmas on Earth (instead of alone in the TARDIS) and had already arranged two flats extremely close to Yaz's apartment.

Although Yaz's family was Muslim and didn't necessarily celebrate the Christian holiday Christmas, she still agreed to have a sleep over on the day to have fun with her close friends. Team TARDIS (and possibly the Master) all under a roof together.

Ryan and Graham would meet with them as well on the day, spending Christmas, for the first time, without Grace.

It would be difficult not to remeber the times before spent passing horribly wrapped gifts, decorating the tree just a bit too early for Christmas and baking gingerbread houses and Christmas cookies (with Grace's 'secret ingredients' cinnamon and warm, passionate love).

Almost too difficult.


	2. A Pulse of Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Masters veins have an glowing colour to it while he's asleep.

The two flats she had brought were diagonal to each other, one on the floor and the other ontop of it. They both looked roughly the same but had minor differences between them such as colour or door number.

She'd also made sure that it was in the same building as Yaz's flat so they could easily walk there when needed. 

Most of the moving ran smoothly, until she practically had to drag the Master into one of the flats. Turns out he had needed alot more rest than she recognized before and had to support half of his weight to get there.

She set him down gently on the dark brown couch and looked upon the Master's weak state, noticing how peaceful he seemed when he slept. How vulnerable he seemed when he slept. How comforted he seemed when he slept.

The Doctor was about to walk away when, out of the corner of her eye an unusually bright blue pulsing light come from his veins, standing out from his skin ,was caught.

Gingerly, she picked up his wrist, turning it gently to get a better view of the vein and avoid awakening the Master from his much needed sleep.

It was unlike anything she'd seen in her many adventures (many, many adventures). It didn't look like the Cyberium or the DNA bombs she'd (fortunately) removed from her and her Fam's bodies It glowed an unnatural blue that could nearly be described as robotic and futuristic. 

It seemed to grow up his arm, increasing in colour richness and amount, the branches crawling below his coat's purple sleeve and obviously evident on his neck. The Doctor scanned him with her silver sonic screwdriver, receiving results that explained that the Master simply didn't have any foreign substance, not even a trace, in his system.

Confused, she debated over whether she should try to obtain a blood sample to carry into the TARDIS and analyse in the hopes of getting an answer or even a clue to what the mysterious substance fused with his blood is and why it decided to inhabit him specifically.

He stirred slightly, a cyan crystal ball rolling from the corner of his eyes, glowing dimly in the light that came through the windows, and leaving a coloured trail down his cheek then disappearing into the pillow, the tear suddenly losing its strange colour as soon as it touched the outside world. 

Deciding to leave the room, she turned back just as she reached for the door handle. Talk to me when you receive this. Don't leave the room and I'll explain later.

Reaching for the handle once again, this time turning and opening the door she stepped out, looking back at the relatively peaceful scene before her, then silently shut the door.

She walked away, finding herself alot more restless than usual, and ascended the stairs to get to her room, closing the door behind her.


	3. Welcome Back to Earth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Master wakes up and take in surroundings unfamiliar to him, gradually recalling what had happened yesterday.

The next day the Master was alot more like his regular self, still showing some element of drowsiness in his slow, slightly delayed actions.

When he'd awoken from his sleep, near midnight, he had enough energy in his system to stay awake for a few days. There were clothes thrown over the back of the dark brown couch, all of a similar colour to his purple coat and tartan patterned clothing. 

It was a black long-leeved shirt with soft purple jumper to go over it. The trousers were pinstripe (faded orange stripes and black) instead of tartan like before and there were plain black trainers beside it.

The Master vaguely remembered the events of what happened yesterday, staggering through the hallway of the TARDIS to reach this new room, with the support of his enemy and oldest friend.

His enemy? Or his milleniums old friend?

He forced himself to sit up and put on the neatly folded clothes on, enjoying the comfortable warmth of them on his skin. Taking a quick servey of the surroundings, he stood up, stumbling slightly then stood up right again

A memory flashed through his mind, speaking to him, the Doctor's face wearing a serious expression, telling him to communicate back. To communicate... back. 

Once he'd regained a decent level of stability, he began to explore the rooms of the flat. He questioned why he had been allowed here and the reason why he was left in this room compared to what he'd been through before. 

His chest stung, a large river of pain reaching out to other parts of his body in smaller tributaries. The Master planced to his wrist, seeing the futuristic blue glow and being hit at full speed by the memories of the trauma and pain he'd expereinced... there.

His best guess at why they didn't remove the painful sting in his veins was to let him suffer much more. He'd lost the drums and was now faced with eternal pain, cleverly disguised to disappear under the radar of all sensors in their universe. 

Another sadistic way to torture their prisoners, I guess 

Mustering what little millimetres of effort and strength he had obtained he sent a single word, throwing it into the darkness of his mind in hope that someone, anyone, out there would catch them. Or even, if lucky, throw some back.

Contact... he whispered into the dark.

He felt a mental switch. Even if he believed he was the only person in his mind, he was still determined to break the barrier between the lonliness of his own mind and the comfort of another lonely soul.

Contact. the Master repeated, this time muttering it alongside his mind. The switch remained open, as if waiting for their standards to be met before communication can begin. 

He gathered that single word, hurling them with brute strength into the silence and visualising them leaving his mind and being recieved. From one mind to another. From one lonely Time Lord to Another.

CONTACT.

Hello, Master.  a voice he knew all too well with a Northern accent replied finally. A strong sense of relief flooded through him as many have before in their time of desperation and need.

Welcome back to Earth...


	4. Reform Me

Doctor...  he whispered, his lips syncing with the words as he sent them to her mind. His voice laced in relief with a hint of what many people wouldn't recognise as joy in the high concentration of comfort.

Where am I? Where have you taken me?  his voice almost sounded desperate. Almost. 

Its OK. You should be safe here. I've put a perception filter over this whole building. Shouldn't come up on their radar anytime soon. 

Her voice had a strange aura around it. Iof generated a type of atmosphere that millions of people across time have all felt radiating off of her in their own times of need and protection. Her voice brought waves of hope and reassurance to those believing they're on the brink of death. 

No, Doctor. They'll still find me. I know they will. They've probably got their people on every planet from here to the end of time itself. They're going to take me straight back to that hell you transported me from. They're going to take me back... and they'll... 

He trailed off, the stinging in his veins reminding of the pain he'd endured for what seemed like an eternity. 

She simply responded with the words 'hold on' and the switch in his mind was closed on her side, disconnecting the two minds from each other. Then the sound of slightly rushed footsteps sounded outside, abruptly stopping for two small consecutive beeping noises then the twist of the doorknob. Slowly the door edged open and the Doctor popped out from behind it.

An expression that indicated no threat was bestowed on her face. The emotion seemed natural but gave the slight impression to anyone who knew the Doctor that it was rehearsed. The same emotion shown to everyone else she gave pity on who suffered in the world. 

"Hello" she said with a beaming smile.

As she moved towards him, the Master tended to shrink away slightly. This detail was only noticeable if you were looking for it, however. 

Eventually, she sat beside him on the dark coloured sofa, only glancing occasionally at the Master. He developed a tendency to move further away each time as if there was a field around her that caused immediate pain to whoever stood in its vicinity.

"What do you want?" the Master asked, in his raspy voice caused from lack of use in the past days. It still gave the recipient the same chill nonetheless. 

"To give you a chance." She told him simply. "A chance to be good. You can't continue destroying planets for the fun of it! There are whole alien civilisations being burned to the ground and screaming in agony at your will. It needs to stop. 

The Doctor had a stern edge to her voice, like a Mother lecturing a child on their wrongdoings. The Master stared at her with unease 

"You want to help me? After all I've done to you. After all I've done to this universe? You still want to help me? I've killed you. I've killed your family, your friends, your home planet. Our hone planet has been reduced to dust and you want to forgive me just like that?"

The Doctor went silent for a few moments and everything seemed to slow down. When the silence was cut, time returned to its usual continuous speed. 

"Yes. I want to help you because somewhere in you is some form of good. I know you're still the person I knew back at the Academy. Somewhere inside of you is that kind, considerate and friendly person I know. You can activate that small part of you and change your whole life."

"No no no, I don't believe that. I've seen things, Doctor. Things you wouldn't believe if you heard. Things you wouldn't ever approve of in any of your lifetimes. However many that is. I don't think you can fix me however you intend to do so."

"I can't fix you. You're not an object. But," she said standing up and extending a hand to him, "I can help to reform you. I'm giving you the chance to be a good person. To stop terrorising the universe and become more than who you pretend to be. So, do you want to start the first day of the rest of your life?"

The Master hesitated, his eyes glazed over and emotionless before nodding slowly and shaking the Doctor's hand. 

"Ok, Doctor," He lifted his head and brown eyes met brown. Reform me"


	5. Two Paths, One Fate

Since the Doctor had place a perception filter over their area, she believed it would be easy to move around. After all, she was a Time Lord able to travel through and manipulate the strings of time. And as one of the Last Time Lords left in existance, she was also one of the strongest beings in the entire universe, from the explosive beginning to the fiery end.

Often she'd sit awake whilst the Fam are still asleep, questioning why she had the opportunity to manipulate the strings of time and the vast and heavy responsibility it carried with it. The Time Lords had mastered Time Travel, one of the first alien civilisations to do so. So what was to happen if two lonely souls, descended from these God-like beings, were the only people capable of such powers.

The ability to journey effortlessly through time and being able to experience events in history as they happen.  
Being able to control events as they happen.  
Being able to manipulate events as they happen.

That is the power of a Time Lord. And that power can be corrupted as quickly as it is taught.

It no wonder why the Master broke. His sanity, eroded away piece by piece at the hands of the Gallifreyans who dispised of him, labelled him as inferior and called him weak since the day he gazed into the Untempered Schism.

And with the whole universe at your fingertips and your enemies somewhere in its dark depths, you'd need the mind of platinum to resist the all too persuasive temptation.

The voice in his head spoke dozens of extensive, motivating monologues filled with propaganda and rhetoric that gave him the determination to reach out for the TARDIS controls, to cease the satisfying feeling of vengeance and generate a rueful feeling in those who Antagonised him in his vulnerable and weak youth.

And so he did. 

But one would think that the Master would have stopped the destruction at his enemies. Corruption spread in his body, fusing with his mind and filtering through to his actions. Before long, the Koschei cowered from his own demons was now driven by an inexplicable force urging him to dominate the universe 

And he'd come dangerously close to succeding. He would have, if it weren't for none other than the Doctor. Its strange to see how people who shared a bond like no other both took paths in conpletely opposing walks of life.

But maybe.

Because the Doctor's path naturally stayed near his as if constantly being open to the possibility of reunion,

The Master's small flicker of yearing for the way things were between them buried deep inside his twisted, confusing soul,

And in the small, near impossible, chance it could happen,

The Master and the Doctor's paths could grow closer, merging together like tributaries to a river and becoming one again, just like before the Master's chaos was unleashed on the world.


	6. Alot More to Learn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Master walks amongst the humans trying to familiarise himself with the feeling of calmness and joy.

The next day, while the snow fell lightly, the Doctor had arranged for the Master to walk amongst the people of Earth, starting what she called the first day of the rest of his life. She'd picked the specific route as it sent them past both an ice rink and ice cream van in which there were many people to see, to observe, to learn from. She'd planned this extremely carefully to the most precise detail.

The Master had been mostly unaware of where they were going or even what they were going to do but, out of and boredom of not having anything to do, he complied, following the Doctor outside. He was going to take his first step into the freezing cold climate of Britain. Typical weather.

He'd been staring out of he window since their conversation yesterday, thinking about the similarities between the snow and the burned ruins of Gallifrey, the ashes falling in an all too similar way, reminding him of what exactly he'd destroyed. Earth was alot like what he'd burned. Potential lives, children and all those innocent people with their several lives aheas incinerated and remade into robots of silver metal, the clumps of metal that seemed to him like a play on words of 'knight in shining armour'.

Into the hallway and down the stairs they went, the Master concentrating his gaze on the ground rather than on anyone else. The Doctor stepped confidently into the snow outside, the specks of white falling ontop of her and catching in her hair like beads of water on a spider's web. She had turned back as soon as the sounds of a second set of footsteps stopped looking at a thoughtful Master, reminding her slightly of the person she knew back at the Academy. Analytical and often daydreaming about the future, preferring to think ahead than on the flaws of his life at the present.

He watched the snowflakes intently and extended a hand, observing how each individual white dot stood statue still on his hands for a few seconds then melting to cold water in his palm. Gingerly, he stepped out into the light snowfall, looked up and stepped slowly towards the Doctor. The cold consumed him and seemed to intrude inti his purple jumper against his will sending a chill inside of him. He shuddered.

"Oh yeah, Gallifrey didn't have snow did it?" she realised her voice hinted at slight disappointment. He noticed her use of the word 'didn't' as if she were hinting discreetly at the destruction of their homeworld.

"Two suns on our planet practically burning the place and you still think I'd know what this is? There was none of this on Gallifrey!" he hissed back. The Doctor pouted with exaggeration.

The Doctor failed to hold back a grin, "Let's keep going."

Side by side, they moved, the Doctor walking slightly in front trudging through the thin layer of snow covering the whole area in colour, buildings peaking out from below the glacial white blankets. 

The Master pointed to the sky and asked, "So, what do they call it here? These white... things..."

"Snow. Snowflake if you're talking about an individual 'white thing'" she replied. 

"What causes it? Is it dangerous? Could it kill..." he trailed off, recognising the last question wasn't exactly innocent.

"Its like the rain on our planet, really. Its just small frozen pieces of ice. They don't hurt and aren't dangerous at all. On Earth there are four seasons and snow falls often in this season."

The Master nodded at this explanation, understanding a little bit more about life on Earth than her knew previously. Soon enough they walked by the ice cream van, there were a couple of people nearby, including children. The Doctor initiated the first part of her Plan.

"You want ice cream?"

"Hmm?" he asked looking to meet her gaze. He hadn't heard anything since he learned what the snowflakes were.

"Ice cream. Do you want any?"

He looked blankly at her then she pointed towards the van. He looked in the generally direction of where she was pointing and to the brightly coloured van not far off and his eyes returned back to hers.

"What is it?" he said

A feeling or slight worry ran through her. Turns out she hadn't planned this as well as she thought she had done. The Doctor realised she had alot more to teach him about life on Earth than she had thought... 


	7. Steel Eyes and Crimson Flames

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ice Skating proves a challenge when the Master's left alone on ice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know I'm a day late. I had 5 pieces of homework so I didn't have time to write the chapter. There's should be a double update at some point but I'm not sure on when because school doesn't know what a social life is.

After what felt like a monologue explaining the chemical properties of ice cream and snow, they set foot on their path once again. Unknown to the Master, they were heading to an Ice Rink which would undoubtedly cause another flurry of questions for her to answer. That was alright though. At least he was interested.

They neared the simple structure, an oval of ice surrounded by a rubber railing and a few stalls beside it. There was one that had a shelf of drey shoes with a shiny blade below it that seemed well adapted for whatever purpose it had. 

They stopped and sat on a nearby bench. The people on the ice rink let out squeals of joy and exaggerated yells of shock from slipping or even falling on the shimmering ice. They sat there for a second observing the people.

"When you look out there, what do you see?" asks the Doctor.

He squinted slightly and made his judgement.

"About... 90 civilians. Minimal security. Soft perimeter. No cover."

"Smiling people having fun." she smiled. "Maybe you should try it sometime."

She got up abruptly and moved towards the shop with ice skates on the shelves standing in the queue. 

Still the mischievous child she was as a Gallifreyan, I see. I wonder if she'll ever have a responsible regeneration! 

Reluctantly, he followed her to the line and watched the kids playing with unease.

Soon enough, the line shrank and they reached the front.

"What can I get for you?" the woman asked with a cheery smile that seemed too happy to be real.

The Doctor smiled warmly back "Size 7, please." 

"And you, sir?" Her gazed shifted to the Master.

"Oh, no skates for me."

"You're not going to skate?" The Doctor whipped her head around and looked at him, her mouth slightly open in shock.

"I never said I'd... skate." he muttered, taking up the new volcabulary with the others he'd learned today

"So what?! You're going to make me go alone? Come on! Didn't you have saying like no one left behind or something wherever you were?"

"Yes, but you're not them."

For a second their brown eyes connected, the Master's showing a more vulnerable side to him and his eyes clouding with painful memories. The Doctor tried to decrypt this statement, burning the exact words he said into his mind and leaving them for deeper thought later on. 

Who hurt you? she asked telepathically and turned back to the overexcited woman infront of them giving no evidence of the three words she had said to him with a flawless smile

"Size 8 for him, please."

_________________

The Fam had been there as well and were surprised to see the Master alongside the Doctor, not trying to murder her, threaten her or whatever else he'd done before that they hadn't heard about yet. The Doctor had taken a leap of faith in trusting the Master to be alone with the defenseless and vulnerable humans for a few minutes while she talked with Yaz, Ryan and Graham. Obviously they had heaps of questions in store about him but, if the Doctor was her usual secretive self, she wouldn't give any information or answers to their frustration and disappointment.

The Master just had to fend for himself on the ice that he had no control over and couldn't skate on to save his life. It would probably be fine. He hadn't broken any bones or dislocated anything yet... he didn't think.

He stood against the outer railing of the ice rink, his hands freezing from the touch and leant the majority of his weight on it, stumbling slightly then regaining his balance. He hoped dearly that no one had seen him.

Unfortunately, to his disappointment, there were witness. "Hey, Mister!" A little boy with blonde hair, brown yes and a flat black coat with the hood up yelled, skating gracefully past him, "You gonna fall again?" He pulled his phone out of his pocket jokingly.

A flicker of resentment flared up inside him but he forced himself to remain calm. "No."

"You sure? You're shaking!" A wave of giggles erupted from the group of boys which seemed to set alight a memory inside of him, easing the cap off of his bottled up jar of pure rage bit by bit. A girl beside him with brown hair wearing a long purple dress under a coat held a dark purple umbrella with markings of gold. She laughed with them.

"Well, if I am it's with anger." He concentrated with steel eyes on the group of children, mostly the boy, and they all seemed to back away slowly, as if recognising the crimson flames they'd let loose inside the Master. He stood up as straight as he could on the ice, a chuckle erupting from deep inside of him.

It's funny how quickly tables can turn, huh? he thought taking a step towards them but never taking his hand off the railing

"Thinking about what I'm going to do to you pointless excuse for a lifeform!" He shouted to them, his voice dripping with venom and eyes colder than the ice rink itself. They all began to skate away, stealing glances back at the obviously hostile man. All the Master could hear was the solid sound of ice on metal and the blood pumping madly in his ears.

He calmed down gradually, thinking over the events that just took place. 

Even after all those years, I'm still the person I was before...

He stared into the distance, never quite taking his eyes off of the boy he'd encountered.

He watched the boy deliberately push the Doctor over, sending her falling to the ground. She sat up and Yaz extended an arm to pull her up. She looked to the attacker with frustration.

The group skated past him, the boy skating rather close to him in a way that seemed to imply that he was going to do he same to him. And he wasn't having any of that.

He looked away and, as he went past, swiftly moved his leg to trip him up, sending him tumbling onto the ice. The girl was quick to help him up and they cast dirty looks in his direction, muttering to each other and carried on skating, one now with a considerable limp in his step.

The Master smiled at his work, then looked guiltily towards the Doctor who, still talking with the her companions, was smiling at him.

I don't think that was a good idea.

You're still smiling, though

The line in their minds went silent for a few moments, then two words were spoken by the Doctor.

Thank you.

After that, his day was just that slight bit better

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Try to guess the movie this scene is based on. The clues are: It's a 2020 movie with two words in the title and there's a blue fish in it🐟.
> 
> Also I think I'll start taking requests now :D


	8. All The Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Master takes a tour down the darkest roads of his mind while listening to human music. But maybe there's some light at the end of the tunnel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been through such a writer's block that I literally couldn't think of anything for the next chapter lol.
> 
> I think its gone now :D

Before they'd parted to go to their individual flats, the Doctor had shown him, what was called on Earth, a Radio and he had began to play around with it for a while, disassembling and reassembling it back into its original state.

By the time he'd finished discovering which components and mechanical parts it was made of and how it worked, a song began to play which reminded him of life before the Doctor rescued him. 

He placed the radio onto the small table and curled into the warm embrace of the dark purple bed, and tried to escape the oncoming storm of trauma hot on his heels. Inevitably, like every night, he'd fail to escape the cold, merciless grasp of Memory Lane, always drowning himself in self pity for the trauma and fear he'd felt. Being afraid. 

Here's to the one's that we got.  
Cheers to the wish you were here, but you're not...

He lay awake at night, like every other night since he'd first arrived as a prisoner, and stared up at the ceiling, now shrowded in the darkness of night. It was the times when he was alone that his mind would wander through the dark halls of his memory, sometimes reaching the corners that allowed no light in at all. The corners that made him who he was.

Often a bright blue tear would create a small amount of light then would be extinguished as it touched the world outside.

'Cause the tears back all the memories  
Of everything we've been through... 

After the complete destruction of Gallifrey and the Cybermen with the regenerative qualities of a Time Lord, he'd been amongst the 'massacre' of already dead bodies with shimmering blue mist surrounding him at all angles. Then came sirens and the distinctive sound of an engine almost no one in the universe could miss. It was the Shadow Proclamation. 

That was when he began to run. Fast.

Toast to the ones here today...

And he'd almost escaped them. Almost. 

Toast to the ones that we lost on the way...

They'd caught him near the beginning of time and transported him to a large, heavily guarded cell in the middle of the universe. 

Thats what broke him. 

The mere brutality of how they treated their prisoners must have been outlawed in some galaxies. 

His mental state, which was also in a horrible condition to begin with, rapidly declined over decades and decades of the same treatment over and over. Being sentenced to genocide, and the fact that he'd evaded this to begin with, brought him to the edge of insanity. 

Those experiences will always be with him. Always. 

No matter how hard he'll try to forget the years of tourture, pain and merciless abuse of power,

No matter how desperate he is to wipe his memory of it, even if he has to sacrifice all memories,

At the end of the day, every day, month and year, his mind will crawl back to the black depths of his mind and cradle himself in the further corner from any light.

There had been times before where he'd succumb to the darkness but never before had he faced such a severe amount at the time.

Then the Doctor had arrived, the box of blue appearing around him in a sudden change of scene, a bright yellow beacon blinding him for a few seconds. 

The afraid stares of the Doctor's companions brought back memories of the experiences he's tried to suppress time and time again, nearly always unsuccessful.

The tears bring back all the memories.

But she welcomed him like nothing had happened between them in those thousands of years they'd known each other.

And the memories bring back, memories bring back you...


	9. The Things You Do To Yourself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While the Master stared at the snowflakes outside of his window, something falls from the sky. Possibly the thing he least expects.

The Master stared through the window at the snow falling, sometimes landing on his windowsill and collecting together in clumps or melting away. The morning was unusually quiet and peaceful with only the gentle hum of cars passing every so often.

It seemed innocent. Almost too innocent.

And too innocent it was. He'd only realised that when he heard yelp of a struggle and then what looked like a body falling in front of the window and landing on the snow garden outside. Shocked by what had happened, he stared through the window and scanned the garden, finding what in fact was a body with longer than usual blonde hair glowing a plethora of colours.

He rushed out of the door, not even getting his coat from its rack and crouching over them, asking,

"Doctor? What happened?"

She groaned slightly face down in the snow, and peeled herself away from its cold embrace. 

"Look up."

He did so and saw a balcony with christmas lights, half of it covered in shining greens and reds.

"Ah," he said.

She struggled in anguish against the tinsel and, realising that she couldn't escape their grip, lay down on the snow again. The Master smiled a bit and tried to untangle her from the lights. It took a while but eventually she could escape them. 

"The things you do to yourself, Doctor..." He muttered, detangling the last coil of colour.

When she was finally released, she stood up and brushed herself off in satisfaction then looked up at her failed work.

"I tried, anyway. I don't think I'll be trying to that again any time soon."

"I think it looks fine." The Master was trying to be nice, even if it looked like someone had given up on the 'christmas spirit' while putting up the decorations then tried to get rid of it but grew tired of doing so.

"You untied me pretty quick, didn't you. You were the fastest person to untie anything at the Academy. 

"You could say that." He was in fact the fastest in his class. Maybe even the fastest in that area. Or Gallifrey itself.

"Well, I guess I should say thank you for that."

There was snow tangled in the majority of the blonde strands in her hair like white beads on a golden string. She clawed at them then gave up, realising that her fingers weren't enough to get rid of them. They seemed to return when she tried to take them out, two or three more falling in its place.

"I think I should go inside. Its pointless trying to get the snow out of my hair while its still falling."

She trudged through the snow towards the door and then turned back.

"How about you come with me, eh?"

He smiled, glowing like the twin suns of Gallifrey.

"Definitely."


	10. Game On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A simple act of kindness can unearth a series of memories and quetions, even if they're not spoken about.

She brushed her hair in front of the mirror with golden patterns that interlocked and twirled around each other, slowly becoming more and more frustrated and then giving up entirely.

"I'll just wait until it melts or something then."

The Master had slight glimmer amusement in his eyes then motioned for the Doctor to give him the brush and turn around. The Doctor, although confused, complied with what he said. Taking a handful of freezing cold hair and on the other hand a brush with a mahogany coloured handle, he gently brushed her hair. As he passed the brush through, the strands tensed together, becoming flat and then relaxing again as the brush's bristles left her hair.

He repeated this motion, trying to copy himself so he was consistent. It took near five minutes by which he had gotten rid of the majority of snowflakes in her hair. It was now a darker shade of blonde to before and stuck together. A flash of memory came to him whilst he was doing so and, inspired by the memory unearthed from millenniums ago, he separated her hair into three parts and began to braid it.

The Master, although he hadn't done it in an extremely long time, managed to braid the Doctor's hair to the point where it was at a decent level of orderliness

He looked up, noticing the Doctor's brown eyes looking at him through the mirror. She moved her gaze away from the Master and twiddled her thumbs in front of her, glancing periodically in his direction. It was strange, for the Master, to see a person who's always readily making a witty remark so quiet and speechless.

"Can I have a hairband?"

Silently, the Doctor rolled up her left sleeve and pulled a loose, thin black band. She held it above her head, the band leaving her hands to the gentle grip of the Master's.

He tied the hair at the end and smiled at his work, then tapped the Doctor on the shoulder, letting her look in the mirror at his work. She stared at it for a while, almost in disbelief, and did a childlike twirl.

"You twirl like you're trying to make yourself sick" he laughed at the Doctor's childish tendencies. 

The Doctor stopped spinning, steadying herself on unbalanced legs and tried to face him with what looked like a smile, "I didn't know you still remembered how to braid."

"Neither did I. It all.. well, came back to me."

"Its funny, how some things aren't forgotten. When was the last time you actually did that? Braided something? 

"Much more than you probably think." he replied. His gaze moved away, darkening slightly and creating an awkward environment around them.

The Doctor's mind went to the millions of questions that she wanted to ask, with no direct answers to any of them.

"Where were you, Master? After all this time, where were you? I found you in the middle of nowhere. You were covered in dust and looked like you had been traumatised beyond belief. I feel like there's alot more to what happened than you're letting on. What made you stop despising every single thing about the human race and made you happy enough to live among them? Why do your veins glow blue? What could've hurt you so much that you refuse to remember it?

She wanted to voice at least one but strongly debated against it, chosing not to remind him of the stress, trauma and pain he'd experienced. She decided to change the subject.

"So... You know what snow is. How about..." she chuckled and slowly edged towards the door. "We have a snowball fight? With Team TARDIS maybe?"

"Depends" he replied. "What is 'Snowball fighting'?"

"Oh," she said, opening the door and stepping backwards into the hallways."I think you'll like it."

The Doctor darted out of the door and, before the Master realised what he was doing, he followed her. He closed the door behind him and tried to keep up with her, running across the hallway and down the stairs then out of the door.

When he got outside, he was greeted with only the snowy landscape and the Doctor was nowhere in sight. He looked around him for a few seconds, dazed by confusion, when he heard a whistle and the sound of a giggle and was hit by a freezing cold ball of white, hitting him in the shoulder. 

He turned towards the general direction the snowball came from and saw the Doctor in a wooly hat, leaning against the wall with a smug look on her face.

She held another ball of snow in her hand.

"Game on."


	11. Someone to Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor and the Master have a snowball fight, ending in a way that neither of them really expected.

The next snowball was aimed straight at his face but, realising quickly what was going to happen, he dodged it. It skimmed his hair, falling onto the floor behind him and breaking apart.

Shocked, he turned again to see the Doctor hurriedly scraping up pieces of snow and squashing them together into a ball. The Master decided to do the same, closely mimicking what she was doing.

At some point, they had both managed to stare each other in the face, their arms drawn back behind them holding a single snowball. They both chuckled at the fact it almost looked as if they were mirroring each other. 

Then suddenly, the Doctor began to run, and fast, holding the compressed snow in her arm. Considering the majority of the Doctor's 'job' involved alot of running away, the Master, wasn't particularly suprised at the speeds she could reach. But, to be honest, over the past years the Master had to adapt to alot of running to escape the 'space police' following across the galaxies.

He suprised himself at how far he'd gotten before he was caught.

He tore himself from the clutches of his memories and concentrated on following the Doctor to wherever she was going. She had taken a completely unfamilar route to the one to the ice rink, glancing backwards to him occasionally.

At some point she ran into a clearing. The floor was entirely covered in snow with footprints, both big and small coming from all directions, and there were trees dotted around with no noticeable pattern but the largest tree in the center. Thats where the Doctor was running.

The Master, still following her, watched her turn around the tree, and then suddenly disappear. He stood in his place, stunned, and looked around him. He looked up and there was nothing. He was confused beyond belief. And then he heard a giggle and whipped his head around, just in time to see a blur of white moving directly towards his face. Moving his arm as a reflex, the threw the snowball towards her face and snow fell between them. They both fell, becoming a of tangle limbs against the snow, and letting out a burst of laughter.

Eventually, the explosion of joy died down and brown eyes met brown, both of them staring into the most vulnerable depths of their souls. It took a few seconds for the Master to snap back to reality and realising that he was practically pinning the Doctor down, preventing her from being able to move from the glacial, unfeeling hands of the snow.

He moved away slightly, muttering an apology to her under his breath and mentally cursing himself for not realising sooner. 

"No... no it's fine...."

The Master stopped in his tracks, relaying the words she had said to him in his mind and disbelieving the mere possible of her saying such things. It was strange for him, being so close to another person who wasn't cowering in fear for one reason or another. For the person to actually want to be near him. The sunlight pour onto her face and made her seem like a literal creature with God like capabilities amongst the sparkling snow. Allowing his urges to take over him, he ran his hand through her plait from the beginning to the end, causing a flurry of thoughts flew through his mind, moving to the front then being tossed away for another to take its place.

Maybe, for the first time in decades, centuries and millenniums combined, he was staring to show compassion and care for another living being. Maybe the person who caused trauma to countless people across the universe will finally find love. 

Maybe, for once in his long and painful life, what he really needs is someone to love and relieve, or at least mitigate, the lingering trauma he faced daily in his hearts and forever stop the raging wildfires he faced internally.


	12. The Definition of Fun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Master finds an comforting anomaly to the pattern of constant nightmares he has.

That night, the familiar demons stayed quiet and locked away. They didn't corrupt his thoughts or even nightmares. It was a relatively peaceful night. He tossed and turned significantly less than usual, finding comfort much faster. The only thoughts he had were of the event that took place below the snow covered tree In the fields. He didn't believe it himself and tried to persuade his mind that it wasn't true, that he was hallucinating things.

The Master began to feel a strange warmth inside of him, like a blanket had been wrapped around his two hearts and protected him from the colder memories, whenether he thought of the Doctor. He trusted her, and began to develop a certain level of care for her during his time, even if it had only been a week and a half of living on Earth.

The majority of it had been... fun, to sum it up. And not the type of 'fun' he was familiar with before all of this. That was the type of fun where people suffered for his own enjoyment. He'd since then changed his definition of 'fun', his mind being cast back to the memories made on Earth with the Doctor, whenever it was, like the ice skating and the snowball fight and... 

There was simply too many. It was impossible to list them all. The Doctor was the only person in the galaxy, or possibly in the known universe, who was actually concerned about his wellbeing and didn't really want to see him die in the slowest and most painful way possible, preferring to see him alive and well than slaughtered to pieces.

But still, even if he trusted the Doctor to such extent, his fears remained within him that he'd somehow be betrayed. That he was being tricked into a false friendship. Somehow he was being lured into a trap created to lock him and his corrupt soul away, never letting him know the feeling of freedom again.

This one fear was one of many reasons for causing his constant paranoia and suspicion of people, making him distrustful of others regardless of how they seemed and acted. He became cynical and slowly drove himself into madness, the drums not aiding the situation in any positive ways at all. The phobia had stayed with him since young, only becoming more and more severe as more people walked into his life, and walked out. 

He'd also been afraid of vulnerability, his childhood filled with memories of hatred and bullying, which fuelled the resentment of those who thought they were superior just because they could hold someone in a state of fear through cheap tactics. If he wanted a peaceful life on Earth, he was going to have to somehow rid of these two fears. And there was an easy solution to do so, but to do so, he would have to hold himself in his most vulnerable state for as long as he could stand doing so.

He decided that, tommorow, he was going to tell the Doctor the truth on exactly what he had gone through before she had found him worn down in rags in the middle of nowhere. The whole truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Over 300 hits and I'm not even half way through this yet. I guess there could be a *dramatic pause* New Year's Day special :D


	13. The Doctor Will See You Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Master spends a whole day preparing himself to overcome his fears, finding many obstacles on the way that prevent him from doing so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got a positive test today 😔 guess I'll be writing more then😉

The next day, he was up before the sun was, his nerves flaring up suddenly and preventing him from having the peaceful rest he wanted so badly. The Master tried rehearsing what he was going to say, outlining the general structure of it and possible questions that could be asked. Soon enough, he realised that he couldn't truly prepare for everything that he had to say to the Doctor so he gave up on the 'rehearsal' and concentrated on calming his nerves to a somewhat helpful state.

That wasn't exactly working either.

Each time he tried to calm himself, he would be reminded that he had no true idea on how he was going to explain what had happened, not to mention he still made an effort to ensure that his veins were hidden from sight. He didn't even know how that whole headache had happened anyway, but he could have made a few guesses.

Some of these guesses, he couldn't exactly test as he no longer had a TARDIS, considering the Doctor took his and used the chameleon circuit to blend it in on Earth somewhere. Knowing the Doctor, it could be at the bottom of the deepest ocean or at the summit of the tallest mountain. It could even be in plain sight and he wouldn't even know it.

The Master's eyes moved to the small clock in the corner of the room, the pendulum swinging from side to side and emmiting a quiet ticking sound for each second that went by. The time was still extremely early, but not so early that there were still streetlights on. 

He considered his options and recognised that the oncoming storm of nerves was inevitable but he could somehow lessen the effects it had on him. Sure he probably wouldn't be able to explain without stuttering or recap events in chronological order but he'd get through it somehow.

After a few more debates, pep talks and internal monologues, the time neared 10 and he decided that he would go to the Doctor's flat, finding himself extremely reluctant and stiff to move in that direction. 

Multiple hesitant steps later, he managed to at least reach outside of her room, raising his fist to tap on the door but stopped short as a thought crossed his mind. A nervous thought that dettered him from knocking. 

What if she doesn't want to hear about it? 

Backing away from the door, disappointment swelling up inside him because if his inability to do such a simple action. The Master moved away, rethinking everything he thought of doing, ultimately making the tsunami of nerves he faced a waste.

In a sudden surge of frustration, he knocked, four times to be exact. And that brought back memories. Memories he wasn't so keen on thinking of at the moment. A wave of heat went through his head making him feel a bit dizzy but he managed to regain his stability and balance to the point where it didn't seem like he was about to collapse.

A click rang out, the sound of a door being unlocked, and the Doctor appeared. 

"Oh, hi..."she smiled, her cheery voice wilting and dying towards the end of the sentene when she looked in his eyes. 

"Are you alright. You don't seem... okay"

"I-" he paused, anxiety slowly creeping over him. He shuddered slightly and fought the feeling, managing to suppress it to a decent level.

"I need to talk to you. Now." The Master, as an afterthought, added, "Is it a good time?" realising that he might as well be somewhat polite.

The Doctors face grew serious, as if sensing the great importance in what he was going to say. For some reason, maybe it was just the way he phrased it, it sounded like it was going to be something he didn't think she wanted to hear. She nodded and beckoned him inside.

"Come in."


	14. I'm Glad You Didn't Do That

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He tells her everything. (Pt 1)

Upon inviting him in, she moved towards the kitchen and asked if he had wanted any drinks, to which the Master replied with 'just water'.

The Master used the few seconds she was busy to gather what he was going to say to her, nerves sneaking up on him and threatening to make themselves known. 

"I wanted to tell you about what happened to me before you found me in the middle of nowhere. Before you took me to Earth and reformed me into who I am today. I want to tell you what this is," he rolls up his sleeve slightly to expose the faint glow of his veins for a few seconds, then covered it again. "And everything else in between. Are you alright with that? I was afraid that you wouldn't want to hear about it or something..."

"Oh, don't say that, " she said while looking the Master in the eye. Her voice was serious but radiating an aura of safety and security as. The Master felt his temperature increase by a few degrees celcius at this gesture and the whole room became slightly more awkward but bearable. "I assure you, whatever it is you want to tell me, I will accept you no matter how much you think otherwise. Even in the most dire situation, I'll still be your friend and, if needed, shoulder to cry on. Always."

The Master couldn't help but smile sorrowfully, took a sip from the glass of water in front of him and set it back down on the table, watching the ripples for the moment then beginning to explain the events before she found him. 

"You know of what happened up to the detonation of the Death Particle on Gallifrey, destroying the Time Lord-Cybermen hybrids, and suprisingly not me along with it. I don't really know how I survived it. I doesn't make any sense to me. I remember the smoke was so thick when I recovered from unconsciousness and it had a strange blue tint to it that I found strange. I thought that maybe that was just because of the remaining Cybermen lights that came from the broken machinery or something. I could only see a metre or two infront of me so I moved around to get a better view of my surroundings. Most of what I saw was metal bent into awkward shapes, pieces of machine parts exposed and blue lights that were fading, if not off, probably from the amount of damage the Death Particle induced." Shaking slightly, but trying to hide it, he laced his fingers into the Doctor's. 

"What happened after that?"

Taking a deep breath, he continued.

"I remember seeing part of the Cyberman ship and I didn't have the easy option of using my TARDIS to get off of Gallifrey so it was difficult to find a way to escape. All of Gallifrey was drifting apart, possibly on course to collide with another planet somewhere, and i had no way off. I realised I needed to create sometthing to help me, and, considering I had ample technology around me and the knowledge and skills to do so, I created a way off of Gallifrey. Uncomplicated space travel. Risky space travel. It wasn't a TARDIS but I could make do.

"I travelled off of Gallifrey and as far away as I could. I knew the Shadow Proclamation would be after me. Genocide wasn't something they ever took lightly. They'd been notified almost as soon as it happened and were following me across the universe, offering awards to every world, big and small, advanced and primitive, for my capture. A larger reward if I was brought back alive, of course. I'm sure you're familiar with their way of punishments, Doctor. They can be quite brutal if they're in the mood.

"I must have been on the run for... ten years or so. Its strange how time flies when you're running from people who want to slaughter you. Maybe it was longer than that, I don't know. Eventually, though, they did catch up with me and threw me into this, this prison. It was worse than death, Doctor. That's how bad it was. There were criminals from across the whole universe, some from different time periods. Some of them looked like they could smash your skull to a million pieces at the slightest aggravation. That prison really made me think about the way I live my life and, and I thought about how I'd hurt people and this is how they'd feel as a result. Death crossed my mind a few times and, and once I... I tried to..."

The Doctor cut him off, swoftly moving to hug him and not caring about hearing the shatter and splatter of the glass of water she had spilt in doing so. Now they both had tears in their eyes, one pulsing blue and the other one clear. The Master jumped in shock, not foreseeing this happening, then wrapped his arms around her and resting his head on her shoulder, crying on her shoulder and never wanting to let go. He finally felt secure. He felt safe. He felt like it was only him and the Doctor in the world and none of his problems could reach him anymore.

"I'm glad you didn't do that to yourself."

Thats when his heart melted and he started to sob.

At some point, when the Master had calmed down and thanks to the Doctors soothing words, allowing him to be calm enough to continue on with the story.

"You know, you don't have to push yourself to finish this. If it causes you too much stress to remember it-"

"No, Doctor. I have to finish it."


	15. Just You, Me and the Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He tells her everything (Pt 2)

In his dark brown eyes, the Doctor recognised an old candle being relit in her friend. One of determination and reason she probably wouldn't understand even if she tried. But now, she nodded slowly and stayed silent in respect to hear the rest of his story. 

"I made a few friends in that prison. Relatively decent people, they were. They were all from a civilisation of violent people, a close relative if the Sontarans I think. There were about 5 and they all were planning on escapeing and had thought out, in detail, what they were going to do and how they wete going to do it. Seeing as that was my best shot at finding some level of freedom and leaving that hell, I tagged along. I was the only one to have escaped successfully and alive.

"I never really stopped running away after that. I watched one of my friends get brutally murdered by guardsmen. That really messed me up for a long time. He bled nearly all over and, before he died, from the repeated shot of a gun that inverted his colours breifly as if electrocuting him. He told me to promise him that I'd live a life far beyond the one I was in at the time and go somewhere safe. 'For all of us' he said, saluting Ihing I heard him say was, 'at least one of us will know freedom again'. 

"Then you found me, Doctor. I remember your TARDIS materialising around me after I'd fallen to the dusty barren ground of a planet I didn't even know the name of. I was debating with myself over whether I should even try anymore. They caught me last time and even then I had some mode of transport that was much faster than running on my own two legs. And I didn't want to be caught by them again and thrown into the same Hellpit as before. I heard the familiar rumble and yellow light poured onto the world around me. It burned for a while but then my eyes adjusted and I saw you. I wondered if I were dreaming or hallucinating or something. A thought crossed my mind and wondered if I had died. You were so kind and caring and helpful to me even though I'd done so much to destroy everything you've ever loved. I've tried to kill you and your companions so many times, and still you care for me.."

"I've always cared for you, Master. Even when you didn't think I did. All those years, I kept telling you I forgive you and inviting you to travel the stars with me in my TARDIS, I never really hated you." A tear fell from her face, soon to be accompanied by a strong rushing river. 

"I just wanted my best friend back. I didn't want anything more than for it to be like the days at the Academy together. Just you, me and the stars. That's all I wanted from the start." The silence hung in the air and the Master, nervously said.

"It could be like that, you know. If the offers still on the table."

"W-Wait, what..?" Her eyes widened slightly and her jaw dropped in in realisation. "Do you mean that, you and I, we... could be 'us' again? Like old times? Before everything?"

The Master smiled at her and opened his arms wide for another hug. She willingly accepted his invitation, flying into his arms and immediately crying tears of joy on impact and mumbling what sounded like gibberish into his jumper. 

"Ok, Doctor. I knew you were a sensitive person but this is off the scale." He reckoned a joke would help to ligjten the mood and it did, the Doctor playfully punching his arm in mock offense.

"No, but I mean it. I really mean it." she paused, snuggling up beside him. "Thank you, Koschei."

Both of their eyes were heavy from the amount of crying they'd endured together, and what they both needed now was a heavy dose of sleep, long and peaceful sleep. It was like they could sense each other's state of wellbeing, or maybe it was only them acting upon instinct.

She began to drift off, the last words he says to her before she falls asleep echo in her mind. 

"Sleep well, my dear Theta. Sleep well."


	16. A Very Big Problem Indeed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They wake up. That's it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol I'm kidding don't worry-
> 
> I just genuinely don't know how to sum this up.

The Doctor woke up first, everything a blur, merging into each other around her and then sharpening to clean edges and familiar surroundings. The world seemed... calm, frozen in time, innocent. It seemed like there were no issues at all. Then the memories of yesterday came crashing down on her and she failed to force a smile off of her face.

...Just you, me and the stars. That's all I wanted...

...It could be like that... If the offers on the table...

...We could be 'us' again. Like old times?...

...Thank you, Koschei... My dear Theta. Sleep well... 

Reluctantly, she moved away from the Master and ran her right hand over her braid which had started to become messy. She moved her head to her palms and sighed, a headache brewing inside of her and making her feel light headed but no so much that she couldn't walk.

She moved towards the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water, being reminded by this action of the one she had spilt on the floor by accident while showing kindness to the Master. Slowly, she moved the cup towards her lips and took a sip, the cold water calming the tension in her mind to a somewhat helpful degree.

I'll just clean it all up... at some point.

The Doctor didn't have the energy to waste her time cleaning up water. That's how you clean floors anyway. The water dries up at some point after you mop the floors and then its clean. Or at least thats how she thinks it works.

The Master groaned, rising up and surveying his surroundings, recognising that the Doctor wasn't by his side and that the room felt alot colder than before. Also that he had a thundering headache as well, burying his head in the pillows in frustration, then suddenly screaming in alarm and scrambling off of the chair, stumbling then falling to the ground, his face contoured in anguish.

Shock from the initial scream made the Doctor drop the glass, watching it shatter to pieces on the solid kitchen ground. She saw the Master huddled into the corner of the room, rocking back and forth gently and shuddering randomly then ran over and sat beside him.

"Koschei, hey Koschei w-what happened? What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"Help me, help me, Doctor help me. They're back. Its in my head. Oh, Doctor the drums, the drums..."

"Look at me. Look."

He looked up to see the Doctor in front of him. Her hands moved to the sides of his face and she moved forwards, their foreheads colliding. Concentrating, she heard the same sound as him, like a dull thud sounding in the distance in painful beats of four. 

She knew she had to stop it somehow, and fast. 

"I think its just the blood in your head rushing. Try and take a few breaths. Maybe it will calm down."

They spent the next twenty minutes breathing together, trying to calm the strengthening wave of pain and fear in the Master's head. At some point, they succeeded in their attempts. The Master became relatively calm, his hair stuck to his forehead and the four beat thudding in his mind silenced.

"Thank you, Doctor. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

The Doctor got up and held her arm out to help the Master. Slowly, he got up as well, feeling alot better than before. Six minutes or so later a knock sounded on the door and the Doctor was greeted by the sight of two of her companions, Graham and Ryan.

"Hello." Graham smiled, holding a box in front of him.

Ryan stood close behind him and nervously chuckled. "Um, we brought games?"

The Doctor grinned, but was unsure of how they'd react to the news of the same person who tried to kill them more than once being in the same room. 

Clearly this was going to be a problem.

A very big problem indeed.


	17. Emergency Custard Creams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor and the Master have a mini debate while the fam are outside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've genuinely lost my ability to even write a meaningful summary anymore 😅  
> But yeah I'm back sorry about the delay.  
> I have no concept of schedules and neither did my school when it comes to homework so I'm sorry about that.

"Can we come in? I brought biscuits!" Graham pointed to Ryan who had a single pack of Custard Creams in his hands.

A second pair of hands rose from behind both of them, also holding a pack of Custard Creams. "I'm here as well."

The Doctor's mind was preoccupied with the realisation that they'd probably not want to set foot in this room, maybe not even in the building, if they knew who was there. They didn't know he'd been reformed but telling them that probably wouldn't change their minds anyways because they know of what he did to Gallifrey, and that its her home planet, as well as the fact that he's tried to kill them more than once.

And besides, she really wanted the Custard Creams.

"Can you wait here for jussttt one second?" Both nodded. She slowly closed the door and looked at the Master who stared back at her, wide eyed.

"What do we do?"

"What do you want to do? Stay or hide? I'm not entirely sure because they don't know much you've changed. I tried telling them at the ice rink but they were more skeptical than believing. Yaz trusts me and my judgement... to some extent."

"You're right. They don't know that much. If I didn't hide, we'd give them a chance to know who I am now. If I do however, I think we'd be playing the safe option because we don't really don't know how they're going to react to this. To be honest, I'm not sure I want to be around them."

"Ok. I put emergency Custard Creams under the bed."

"Wait, what-"

"Now is not the time just go."

The Master, opening his mouth as if he was about to start a protest, closed it again then walked off without saying a thing.

The Doctor opened the door again with a warm grin.

"Now, I heard you said you have Custard Creams." She moved to the side to let them in, ignoring the uneasy feeling inside of her.

Everything will be fine. What could really go wrong? I'm just being paranoid 

But for some reason, she thought that maybe the feeling was an omen, predicting the future issue of them discovering what she was hiding.

Starting to lie to herself, she said that even if they do find out, she could convince them to think otherwise of him that of his two time attempts at murder and that he really had changed.

Even if she didn't trust even what she told herself sometimes, she'd need to get everything over and done with to figure out the true results rather than panicking over things that haven't even happened yet or will not even happen at all.


	18. A Day in the Life

Graham sat down "Right, we brought Monopoly, Connect 4 and Snakes and Ladders."

Ryan sat beside him. "No seriously, he doesn't have anything else. Trust me, I looked. Twice."

Yaz's eyes moved to the spilt water on the ground with the glass beside it, but chose to ignore it, passing it off as another one of the Doctor's strange quirks. Anyways, they'd never seen many of the other rooms beside the TARDIS console room so who's to know what its like other than the Doctor herself.

They played Monopoly to begin with and when they finished that game (after one and a half hours) they played a game of Snakes and Ladders (which only took about fifteen minutes somehow) and then a Connect 4 tournament, Ryan ultimately winning and being crowned, 'the Champion of C.4'.

When they'd played the final round and Ryan won, he punched the air and jumped up shouting, "I can score baskets and I can win Connect 4. Nothing's stopping me now."

The Doctor couldn't help but think that Yaz seemed... like she was daydreaming . Like something else was on her mind. Mid way through her thoughts, a line opened in her mind and she heard him speak to her.

Its been more than two hours. What are you doing. I can't eat in here forever. The supply only goes so far.

They're playing board games with me. And I dearly very much hope you are not eating all of my Custard Creams!

Sorry but my boredom has a direct link with my hunger and I'm pretty bored right now. You've got two more from them anyway! Why do you need this one pack?

Because were eating them all together

Oh really? And you can tell me truthfully that you didn't eat ninety percent, or more, of those biscuits?

Alright, fair point. You can finish them

Who's to say I haven't already?

She sighed, and refocused her attention to whatever they were doing, and continued on with the game. The Doctor found Yaz staring at her, breaking eye contact as she realised the Doctor looked towards her.

Half an hour later, the Custard Creams all eaten and the games all played, everyone decided it was now time to leave.

Graham and Ryan left, leaving Yaz who stayed behind, telling them to go on without her. Yaz walked up to the Doctor and asked her one simple question which she found really strange

"Are you alright, Doctor?"

"Yeah I'm brilliant! Fantastic. Molto Bene! What makes you ask?"

Yaz tensed up slightly, her face giving the impression that she was about to break bad news.

"Its just I wasn't sure if you were aware of the spilt water over here and the smashed glass over there."

The Doctor noted that she sounded alot like the other police officers, as she had encountered many in her times and found that they all had this specific way of speaking when informing or about to ask a question. 

It was strange, she mused, how alien civilisations all have something equivalent to police. Unless you're Sontaran of course, everyone is naturally violent so whats the point in having guards. She decided to put her experience to the test.

You were always bound to come of a police officer when you're in the middle of all the action and naturally become the suspect for whatever disaster took place there. She knew how to stop suspicion, but this was a relatively new enviroment. It wasn't often that she had to lie to her close friends to protect another even closer one that they hadn't known much about and are all afraid of because that same person she's closer to than them committed genocide and tried to kill them twice as well.

Ah well, just another day in the life of a lonely Time Lord. 

A lonley Time Lord now without Custard Creams. 


	19. Tell Her

"Oh, no I'll clean that up."

Yaz's eyebrows furrowed. "You didn't notice either of them? They're in two different places..."

"I'm very clumsy" she answered blankly.

The room went silent for a few moments, Yaz looking the Doctor with a face riddled in suspicion.

"Was he here?"

"Who?"

"The Master, was he here?"

"No"

"Okay then. Were you talking to him, telepathically?. Like you said you could. I saw you while Ryan and Graham were playing Connect 4, when Graham said he wanted a rematch. You looked very distant. We haven't seen him since he was on the same TARDIS as us"

"No I was just... thinking... Don't ask me what about." One thing she was never really good at was lies, or keeping them consistent.

Yaz then made a bold claim that caught the Doctor slightly off guard. "I saw him"

"Where?"

"Following you. You're forgetting I can see the front of the building from my window. Its not that far, you know. I saw him at the Ice Rink as well, Doctor. I know he's still on Earth somewhere."

"If he is I don't know where he is."

"...Are you lying to me, Doctor."

"Would I lie to you?"

"I don't know. But I'm sure I saw the Master. Please don't lie to me, Doctor. I trust you enough to take me into life-threatening situations on alien civilisations with names I've never even heard of! You told me at the Ice Rink that he'd changed. How would you know that if you weren't around him to know."

"He's not on Earth anymore."

"Oh, so he was here? Putting all of Sheffield in danger! Innocent people could die here and you're not doing anything about it."

"They're not going to die, Yaz."

"How do you know! He could be hoarding a houseful of missiles right now and you still believe that everybody on Earth is safe."

Tell her

What?!

Tell her. She clearly doesn't believe you and soon she's gonna check the rooms at some point. She's adamant. You chose your companions well.

The Doctor turned around, her hands covering her face like a Weeping Angel, then shrieked with a voice that was twisted in anguish, trying do decide between her companion or best friend - a decision that shouldn't be so clear to her.

"Ok." She said both aloud and to him in her mind, tired of the interrogation and two choices with no in-between.

"I'll show you. I'll prove that there is no threat on this planet. Is that what you want, Yasmin Khan? To see the very person you're afraid of? You seem intent on knowing if he's here. You seem intent on knowing that you're right. I can end everything. Well, since you really want to see him and prove yourself right, why don't you?!"

Suddenly as it started, darkness flooded out of her from a constantly suppressed and belittled part of her causing a flurry of remorse towards Yaz to consume her. Yaz felt afraid, realizing that she had awakened a part of the Doctor that lay dormant for years on end, the energy building up and erupting, hitting her like a spray of bullets from a Machine Gun.

The Master appeared from the corner, a nervous expression on us face. Yaz's mouth fell open in shock at this and her gaze flicked back to the Doctor who stared with two dark brown eyes that threatened to pierce through her and set fire to her soul mercilessly. 

"So. Happy now?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so tiredddd
> 
> So there's some Dark Doctor and I seriously got writer's block during Yaz and the Doctor's dialogue. Then I realised it's Christmas in 5 days and I gotta hurry this story along. The next chapters may be a little longer because of that so bear that in mind.


	20. The Good-ish Idea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An argument breaks out and a sudden idea makes the Master force the Doctor into the kitchen to calm down.

"Oh. Doctor I'm sor-"

The Doctor sighed. "Yeah I'm sure you are."

"Doctor..." The Master's eyes moved from the ground, showing concern and somewhat fear. "Please calm down-" He could feel an all too familiar sting flare up inside of him and spread through his body.

"Why?" Her voice was quiet but had high amounts of venom focused within it. She practically hissed a response. "Why should I calm down?"

"Because!" Even if he didn't want to admit it, especially not in front of the Doctor's companion, somewhere deep inside of him he was reminded of what happened while he was in prison. The darker side of her was unforgiving, much like the Shadow Proclamation's guards and other employees. 

Yaz watched them argue with increasing terror, wondering when she'd be the victim of the Doctor's words again.  Maybe I should go. Before anything else happens...  Slowly, she moved to the door and took a final glance at the two Time Lords, then walked away.

The Master and the Doctor however, so caught in their argument, didn't realise that Yaz had left. The row mostly consisted of the Master trying his best to calm her to some level but she was having none of it. He realised that she wasn't going to calm down easily and considered making a compromise. 

"Hey, Doctor" He had a good-ish idea which could end in either a delicious result or the burning down of their kitchen.

"What?!" The blood pumped madly in her head and created a bass guitar sound in her head.

"How do you feel about baking?" 

She paused.

"...what..?"  
__________

"Alright. There's the ingredients and here's the recipe book and here's you looking at me with a slightly mad face. Everything's here." He pushed the bowl in front of her and she groaned in frustration. 

"I regret this already."

He laughed. "Well you're going to regret it a whole lot more, Doctor. So what we're going to do is make cookies and send some to Yaz as a sorry gift."

"But-"

"You have no choice in this."

"What if I-"

"No choices"

She went silent then sighed,

"Could I-"

"None."

Nodded sadly at him, they started to follow the recipe. The Doctor's compliance was... reluctant to say the least. But at least she tried to some extent.

Apart from the Doctor occasionally throwing ingredients angrily into the mixing bowl despite the Master's warnings, everything ran smoothly up to the point where the Doctor decided to put over 300g of flour into the bowl. A white cloud filled the kitchen and covered everything in a thin layer of flour. Everything including them.

The Master rubbed the flour from his eyes and looked at the Doctor. The Doctor did the same and they both laughed with each other, often accidentally spreading more of it.

Of course, not all of these incidents were 'accidents' so they claimed. But no one was suffering, really. Sure they could be sneezing flour for a week and the cleaning they'd have to do in the kitchen would be great but at least they were having fun. Together.

After measuring another 200g or so of flour they mixed the mixture of ingredients all together and began to roll it all out with a rolling pin. The Doctor went to a drawer and pulled some cutting shapes from it, all different shapes and colours.

Some of them were star shaped and some were shaped like planets. The Master was hit by realisation.

"You were planning this. Maybe not to happen now but you were still planning it..."

"Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't. I guess you'll never know." She chuckled and continued cutting the dough.

They finished, using as much dough as they could. Somehow, despite following the instructions to the most precise detail (leaving out the flour disaster they had) they were left with a small piece of dough. 

"So... Do we eat it or try to do something with it?" she says. 

"You can eat it," he put the two trays of space cookies in the oven, "And have the  technical first taste."

She picked up the dough then and a black line on the Master's skin walking astray from the hidden protection of his sleeve caught her eye. 

What's that? The pen on your arm, what's it for?"

The Master tensed and searched through his mind for a plausible lie. 


	21. Your Way...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Master explains the pen on his arm and the Doctor has a sudden revelation.

"Oh, its nothing. Just some mindless scribbles and doodles." He moved to stretch his sleeve over his arm to hide them and some darkness clouded his eyes, complimenting his clothes' colour scheme.

"Can I see them? You don't need to show me if you don't want to."

The Master thought about this. He trusted the Doctor and knew that she trusted him too. He wanted to tell her what he was hiding of course, but he always saw a grey area with these things. With anything to do with his memories, particularly the worrying ones, he was afraid of talking about them.

Slowly but fluently, he put his arm down and, taking a deep breath, let go on the part of sleeve he was holding, watching the fabric relax from the tension it put it through and drew it upwards.

His exposed arm showed a pattern of lines and circles intertwining and dancing together, merging and seperating. Some were in Gallifreyan and others just swirling and curling away.

"Is this... is this how you..?" She asked

"Y-yes. I found a pen when I was, uh... there. I've never really stopped since then. I guess it's just my way of... c-coping with it."

"Your way of coping..." she repeated under her breath, so quietly that the Master almost couldn't hear it.

Some of the pen spelt out words in Gallifreyan. Words of emotions and one-word explanations. 'Time', 'Dragging', 'Repeat' and 'Doctor' among the tree of words.

Some parts were faded or smudged to the point where it could no longer be read unless you really strained to read them.

Pen... It's all in pen, she mused. Just your regular pen...

One which caught her eye had a picture of a Time Lord-Cybermen hybrid and the language of Gallifrey connecting to make a border around it. It read....

 **"Technology is strong;**

**But Magnets are stronger..."**

Suddenly she gasped.

"I got it! I got it! Why didn't I realise sooner?"

"What..."

"We need to go to the TARDIS. I just realised! I think that I might be able to extract whatever's in your veins."

"Really? You could do that?"

"I think so. I mean, its based on theories upon theories so if I'm right then all the theories are right and... yeah, let's just go."

They walked to the door but the Doctor stopped suddenly, realising that they'd need a way of timing how long they were away to stop the cookies burning. No-one liked cookies that were burnt.

Not even an extremely hungry Doctor.


	22. In My DNA

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor runs a test on the Master, confirming her theory

The TARDIS was in a closet in the furtherst corner from the door, hidden in the darkness. You would need to first know where the light switch was to be able to find it. 

She opened the TARDIS and walked in, letting herself be engulfed by the yellow light radiating from it. The Master followed close behind her, feeling nostalgic and somewhat worried that the TARDIS might develop a certain attitude towards the very person who was wanted in a number of galaxies.

The Doctor went to the console and flipped a few switches. A whirring sound cut the silence and the Doctor signalled to him to come over. When he did so, he saw a pad on the TARDIS with a blue hand outline on it and all of the statistics at zero besides it. 

She took her sonic screwdriver from her pocket and asked him to move his hand infront of him, palm up. He did so and she used the sonic, an orange light pouring onto his hand and disappearing along with its sound. 

Looking at the screwdriver, she nodded slowly. 

"I've disabled the perception filter."

"Perception filter? But the veins were noticeable."

"We noticed them, but any type of analysing equipment probably wouldn't be able to. Perception filter's. It's always there when if you're not looking for it." She stated simply.

"Do I put my hand here now..?" He asked, pointing to the pad. She nodded. 

When he put his hand on the pad, the blue shone slightly stronger and then became faint once again. Numbers began to ascend and descend beside his hand and he waited. The piece of technology was familiar to him. Gallifreyan medical technology, very efficient it was. 

The pad made two consecutive beeps and turned green. The hand silhouette disappeared and the statistics increased in size. They both read what it had to say.

"...Cyberman mechanisms? In my DNA?"

"As I thought. Remember that one class we had about Time Lord Magnetism back when we were children? Well, when Gallifrey blew up, I  think that some of the Cyberman parts impaled you and contaminated your blood. Blood's also a conductor of electricity so if there was a light or something in your blood, hightened or strong emotions that increase blood pressure would cause a more prominent colour which explains that."

"And there's something else... Only one pulse..." he pointed out.

The pad recieved a frown from the Doctor. "Strange. And you're not feeling any kind of pain other than the whole blue light thing?"

"No. I'm completely fine. That's the only pain I felt. Other than that whole thing I'm ok."

"I know what it's like to only have one heart working and believe me, it made me question how humanity could cope. So for you to go for so long with only one heart, not experience pain and not even realise it is... strange. Maybe there's more to this than I realised..."

The Master looked down at the pad at the area that showed only one heart, the second greyed out with 'Time Lord?' written above it. "The scans didn't show anything and they're the most accurate and precise medical equipment in all of Gallifrey, a very advanced civilisation in terms of its technology. Surely there's a reason. Clearly it's not causing any problems for me so I think we should just leave it. If I have one pulse, I have one pulse."

A ringing stopped him from talking. The Doctor retrieved the timer from her left pocket. "Anyway, cookies are nearly done. Can't wait to have one!"

"You do remember those cookies are for Yaz, don't you Doctor?" He said, noticing that she was slowly nudging away from him and towards the door in small robotic movements, the Doctor trying to maintain a nonchalant, not suspicious face.

She broke into a run towards the kitchen. "Yeah, but would she really mind if I ate a couple?"


	23. A Stunning Sculptural Masterpiece

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor can go to unbelievable lengths to get cookies. Shutting up isn't always one of them.

"Doctor! They're meant to be an apologetic gift for Yaz!"

"But I need to apologise to my stomach for ignoring it to help you instead soooo..." 

"Doctor, that is hardly a sustainable alabi! You can eat the cookies when we're finished! "

She ran around the final corner and darted into the kitchen, grabbing the nearest heatproof gloves and twisting the knobs on the oven to turn it off. 

As quickly as she could, she pulled a tray from the oven and placed it on the table. Then the Mater bolted in.

"DOCTOR, STOP!"

"NO!"

The Doctor grabbed the tray with her mitten covered hands and ran away. Sadly, it was only a small apartment and she didn't really have that far to run. She ended up in the corner of the bedroom, the furthest away from the closet as she could be. 

"Doctor... Give me the cookies."

"Can't I just have one? Please?" The Doctor tried to guilt trip him by using what was known as 'puppy eyes' on Earth. On Gallifrey it was known as a lame excuse to get what you want. And besides, the only puppy eyes that existed were his.

"No. You cannot."

"Can I have half of one?"

"No."

Still, despite knowing he was fully against her having any, she still protested. "A quarter?" He sighed. "Okay, what about an eighth? A sixteenth? No?"

"Listen," he threw his arms up in a surrendering mannor. "If you help me ice these cookies and give them to Yaz on your own with a reasonably acceptable apology, I will personally walk to the store and buy you double the cookies we have now."

The Doctor considered the offer, then nodded and walked past him to the kitchen.

The things you have to do to get the Doctor to be compliant.

Placing it on the table, she pulled the icing powder from the cupboard and started mixing it with water in a bowl. Her movements were more urgent than before.

"I feel like I'm going to regret this compromise."

"Well you're going to regret it a whole lot more, Master."

"Ha-ha." He told her in mock laughter at her quoting of him. "You think you're so cute, don't you."

"I don't know. It would be arrogant for me to call myself 'cute' I guess. Do... you think I'm cute? Honest opinion, I mean."

"To some extent. But this regeneration is a few levels down from the others." She nudged him while she mixed the icing, smiling madly.

"Did you ever have a favorite regeneration?"

"I mean, you're all the same person. There's no point in chosing. But if I did  have to pick one... I can't pick one. Your tenth and third regenerations are alright."

"Missy was alright."

That one statement set an awkward mood, silencing the whole room. She put the icing in two icing bags and tied them.

"Ok. Let's ice these cookies"

_____________

The Master smiled. "Wow. We did alot worse that I thought we would've. Well, it's not all that bad. Could've been worse I guess."

"...you got icing in my hair," she whined.

"Only a little bit! At least most of it actually landed on the cookies... even if what you've managed to make is in the form of a severely broken Grinch-"

"Oi! I know I'm not an artist but I tried!"

"Tell that to the Grinch's distorted spine. Also did you make this? Because I didn't. And it seems like the type of thing that you would do.

"I don't know who made that." 

"It's not the type of thing that happens accidentally, Doctor. Dough doesn't get two eye shaped holes and a mouth naturally."

"Can't have been me I guess. I'm a horrible artist who makes Christmas trees look like a misshaped Grinch. How could I possibly conjour up the ability to make such a stunning sculptural masterpiece?"

"Eat it." 

"Really?" 

"Yeah. Consider this a small percentage of the deal." 

"But I can't... I made it for you. There was supposed to be a body somewhere..."

"Oh that's what that was"

The Doctor rolled her eyes. "You eat it." 

"No. You eat it." 

"They squinted at each other, exploding in a fountain of giggles, and decided to cut it in half, the Doctor secretly cutting less for herself to the point where it went unnoticed.

The cookies were put into a small basket and the Doctor wrote "I'm so so sorry♡" on a small card.

Now all they had to do was give them to Yaz and deliver a believable apologetic speech then the Doctor could restock her Emergency Custard Cream stash

So close she could almost taste it... 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I need to give the old speech marks a rest at some point... 🙂


	24. A Gift To Say Sorry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Master helps the Doctor to apologize to Yaz.

The Doctor had gotten the basket of cookies and nervously walked towards the Khan apartment. The Master stayed around the corner, still communicating with her telepathically to help her through it.

The Doctor, even though she was extremely talkative, was skittishly pacing up and down the hallway. 

Doctor, calm down. You need to calm down. 

I can't calm down!

Why are you anxious? What's making you upset? 

I... I don't really know. I- I just  am. I don't know how to apologise beyond 'sorry'. 

Ok, come here. 

She hurriedly walked to the Master, fear still eating away at her from the inside to the outside. 

"Why can't you just come with me, Koschei? I can't do this!" The Doctor's hands grabbed handfulls of her hair, eyes riddled in anguish. 

"If I come with you, she'll know I put you up to this. You'll have to do this alone. You can do this alone. I believe in you. Hey, hey don't cry..."

Her eyes became glossy, reflecting in the sunlight outside. The fear began to reach the surface, breaking down the barriers she fought strongly to keep in service. From this worn down barrier, a tear trickled down and weakened it.

The Master moved forwards, wrapping his hands around her and pulling her close. He acted upon instinct more than anything else. An instict to help her. Somewhere inside of him he didn't want to witness the Doctor crying and having himself resist the urge to comfort and help her.

A stream fell from her eyes and she cried into his shoulder, finding relief from the demons of worry bothering her. A flashback briefly appeared in her mind and disappeared as quickly as it had started. It was the two of them together on the red grass of Gallifrey, wearing the traditional red uniform and talking about anything, everything. 

They were sitting back to back and staring into the night sky. It was dark and the stars shone faintly like layers of smoke clouded and dulled their shimmering light. There was a strict curfew in place but the Master had convinced him to see the night stars. And besides, the punishments weren't that severe anyway.

The memory ripped through her, a new army of tears marching through her dark brown eyes. He whispered words of kindness to her that combat the anxiety she felt. 

"Its okay, Theta. I know you can do this. I believe in you."

"T-Thank you. I... I really needed that." She moved away, wiped her eyes to the point where anyone else who saw her would be unsuspecting of the fact that she spent the last ten minutes crying into her oldest friends shoulder.

"Just remember this, Theta: When this is all finished, regardless of how well or horribly you do." Involuntarily, the Doctor tensed but relaxed again. Even after all of this memories of who he was before would come back and haunt her. He smiled, "I'll still buy you cookies."

She giggled at that. Walking back to the door, alot less resistant than before, and, taking one last look at the Master, knocked on the door.

A muffled answer came from behind the door and Yaz's sister Sonya appeared. 

"Oh hello. Did you want Yaz or can I pass on a message?" 

"Yes. Is she home or...?"

"Yeah I'll just go and get her." Sonya walked off and called for her sister who appeared seconds later with a worried face and a smile that was uncertain.

''Hello Doctor. What brings you here?"

''I just... I... um... I'm so sorry..."

I wanted to apologise for yesterday...  a voice coaxed in her head. A wave of relief went over her at the Master's help.

"I just wanted to apologise for what happened yesterday..."

I'm sorry if I hurt you... 

"I'm sorry if I hurt you..."

I was being absolutely uncivil and turbulent... 

"I was being absolutely uncivil and turbulent..."

And the dumbest being in this universe. 

"And the dumbest being in this universe." If she was honest she was only focusing on not breaking down in front of Yaz and maintaining eye contact. Not on what he was telling her. It would take her a while for it to register in her mind but she trusted him to lead her in the right direction.

I brought these cookies as a gift to say sorry. I made them myself.

"I brought you these cookies as a gift to say sorry. I made them myself. I hope you like them."

The Doctor handed her the little basket of cookies with the small card inside, her body trembling a bit. She put a relatively believable smile on her face for good measure and saw that Yaz had began to tear up slightly.

"Thank you, Doctor. They're lovely. Did he help you at all?"

Don't you dare.

"Yeah. He did help me. He stopped me trying to eat them. The ones you can recognize are the ones he did because they don't look like squiggles ." Yaz laughed.

I-

"Thank you for these, Doctor. I'll share them with my family. I was worried that... maybe you didn't want me as a companion anymore. I ask too many questions and I know you're not exactly fond of answering so I should be the one who's sorry."

"No, I overreacted. It's mostly my fault this all happened." 

Yaz handed the Doctor a cookie, one that he probably did because you could tell it was a tree. 

"Some good came out of it I guess. Here, take another one. Give it to him and tell him that I'm sorry and that I was wrong about him." This cookie was the one she made. The one with the distorted green spine. You could really see the difference between them when they were side by side. 

They said their goodbyes and the Master congratulated her when she turned the corner. 

"So," she stared down the corridor. "How about those Custard Creams you promised?"


	25. The Clearest Message in a Distinct Melody

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the middle of a quiet markey, they exchange presents after searching for over an hour. They both find the perfect gift.

They walled out onto the relatively silent streets apart from the muffled speech of other people, the Doctor holding a bright yellow packet of biscuits and ocassionally reaching into it, grabbing the contents inside. She passed on to the Master who willingly took it and placed it in his mouth. 

"I can see why you enjoy them. They're not that bad."

"Not that bad? They're brilliant!"

"Didn't you like Jammie Dodgers only two regenerations ago?" 

"Ok, ok I get it. My taste changes okay." The Doctor scanned her surroundings and ate another Custard Cream.

"I did say, well I'm pretty sure I said cookies. Aren't Custard Creams biscuits?"

"Oh, its all the same really."

"I don't think they are-"

"Wait I forgot to give this to you."

The Doctor's hand went into her pocket and she pulled out two of the cookies Yaz had given her. Taking one glance at them, she passed the one that was obviously made by him to the Master. 

"She told me to give that to you. And she said sorry for saying that you can't change."

He looked at the cookie, remembering when he made it vividly. Then he remembered ruthlessly tricking Yaz and the Doctor. Internally, he knew he was better than that now. That he's moved past the homocidal Time Lord with a dire thirst for universal domination and has completely changed his set of morals, for the better.

All thanks to the Doctor. 

The Doctor waved her hands in front of his face, snapping him from his train of thought.

"Earth to Koschei, Earth to Koschei. Transmitting message..."

He looked blankly at her for a few seconds and snapped back to reality. 

"I was asking if you wanted to take a look around the market. I know we only came for Custard Creams but it's Christmas. The Happy Holidays!"

"Hm? Oh alright. An hour? I'll meet you back here or something."

"Okay, see ya."

They walked in opposite directions. Obviously, the Master had no idea where he should go but he went regardless. He went into a store with a sign on the to with white on blue. It had a little green tree in the window and stickers that were on the window and had small air pockets where it was carelessly put on.

It was a small shop but it offered a wide range of stock. From clothes to toys, it had almost everything. He wasn't exactly sure on what he was looking for but he went in. This had only been the second time he was left alone in a public place. Still he wasn't used to being alone. He didn't like being alone. He hated being alone. 

It was strange, being amongst humans, all of them being oblivious to the face that you're an alien to them from a world that's older than your civilisation and infinitely more complex. Yet, because you're humanoid and act, for the most part, human, they treat you like one. The Master glanced at the aisle to the far left then the one to the far right. They looked, to some point, organized.

His main goal was to buy something for the Doctor. The issue was, being enemies with her for a long time, you don't exactly pay attention to their likes and preferences because you're too busy plotting to murder them or the people around them or trying to take over a planet to bother on those type of things. 

The Master walked around for a few minutes. There were many things he could have brought despite the shops small size. Many, many, many things. But for some reason this one item seemed to jump out at him and linger in his mind. It was small but it was something about it that he couldn't quite explain. He picked it up and turned it over in his hands.

That's what he was going to get. It was perfect.

_____________ 

An hour passed and they both met at the established place. The Master had slipped the first present into his pocket, deciding to work on it later. He'd gotten something else as well, deciding to give that to her now. 

It was a necklace. A shiny silver colour with what looked like interlocking hexagons branching off one another. 

It looked like the structure of DNA. And considering she had an undying, and definitely unquestionable, love for science, she'd love it.

Not only that, but it reminded him of the TARDIS console's hexagonal shape.

When he gave it to her, her eyes seemed to shine like no other galaxy he'd seen before. They were brighter than any fire, flame and wildfire he'd seen combined. In that moment, it was almost like the TARDIS beacon coursed through her and was reflected through her eyes. The eyes of a person who's saved millions and witnessed an equal amount of deaths. 

The Doctor had gotten him an ancient box. It wasn't a regular box, however. There was a 'Z' shaped handle attached to the wood. It reminded him of something, something from years and years ago. Years and years and years... 

______________

I took it. 

You can't just steal, Koschei. Someone could've seen you! 

But it was mine. Theta, he took it from me... 

______________

"Do you remember? It's almost identical..." 

"Oh, I remember. It's just like the one I had as a kid." 

Gingerly, the Master closed his hand around the handle, the simple action being very nostalgic to him. He gently winded the box up and let go, the handle moving in the opposing direction on its own, unwinding his actions. 

He could almost say it was symbolic. The way he'd winded his life up, holding the compressed power setting himself up for the future only to be unwinded into a trail of uncertainty and adventure. 

The box opened slowly but fluently, revealing a flat circular silver disk with lots of small holes around it. It played a song half heartedly, high pitched chimes playing as the line went over them.

While the melody may not have been the same, the message was clear. 

"How... Is this a common thing?" 

"It's an old music box. The new ones tend to have technology and all the modernised machienery. Found it in the furthest corner away from everything else. Reminded me of the one you had."

The Master wasn't and hadn't been listening for the past few seconds, mesmerised by the little contraption gifted to him. It was simple but meaningful. Something that actually had thought instead of being the most expensive thing you could find.

"Its perfect." 

"I could say the same about your present. I didn't even know they sold anything like this. Brilliant!" 

She held the necklace in her hand and watched how it glimmered in the sun. Even if it snowed, there was still sunlight, as such was a common occurance in Britain. According to the Doctor, they were lucky to even get snow this time of year. Especially on Christmas Day. 

In the midst of both of them admiring each other's presents, brown eyes met brown, both watching the deepest depths of each other's souls. It was like something between them clicked and a thousand switches that lay dormant inside of them were up and active. 

Christmas wasn't always about presents and food and drink. It was about bringing people together. And that is exactly what it had done today. 


	26. Glass Shards and Crimson Trails

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Intending to give the Doctor a gift, he is met with another sight he wasn't expecting at all.

That night, the Master decided to work on the present he'd gotten for the Doctor. He painted it, using sparkling golden paint on the cover and drawing branches of circles, all having a specific meaning. It stood out on the solid black background it had. As an afterthought, he traced over the cursive words in the same gold paint.

He was gentle with each of the pages, turning them over as if they could explode at any second. Then he stared writing. There were about 100 pages or so, all woth a unique question at the top and a box below it beging for the contact between pen and paper for an answer. It wasn't exactly a journal but it was much like it nonetheless.

It took him approximately an hour and a half, more if you counted the time he waited for the paint to dry. Both sides were painted and all of the pages had writing on them. The sunlight outside intruded inside. The day looked more or less the same compared to yesterday, apart from slightly thicker snow.

Still retaining the feather-like touch, he picked up the book and turned it over again and again to check if there was anything he'd forgotten, repeating the mental list and checking all of the major and minor points off. It was unlike him to be so cautious unless he was plotting to take over a galaxy somewhere.

The Master walked to the door and opened it, the cool air of the hallway meeting him readily, a shiver being sent over him. Up the stairs he went to her door and lightly knocked on it, a bit of doubt appearing inside of his confidence, slowly spreading.

He was met with silence. An eerie silence that made his hearts speed up just above the usual rate 

No, I'm just being paranoid now. 

Knocking again, this time more urgent, the Master felt a sense of worry about it. Still, there was nothing. He opened the line in his mind but found himself cold and alone.

Something was wrong, and there was no telling his feelings otherwise. It was like he could sense it, deep in his bones that he was oblivious to the issue on the other side of the door.

He quickly ran down the stairs and into his apartment, picking up a card from the floor he had found only days prior, and returned in front of the Doctor's door, the gift he handled so carefully long forgotten.

The Master hurriedly slotted it in the small gap between the door and the wall and took a deep breath, the movements coming naturally to him like he'd done it time and time before. And he had. Just not in this regeneration.

After what felt like two minutes, the door glided open slowly, a small gap being revealed much to his relief.

Everything was quiet. Too quiet. Like a scene before the peak of a horror film. And it wasn't in his best interest to be in that sort of film. 

He slid through the door, not really giving much thought to safety, and glanced around the room. His eyes were caught by one think in the room, like they were magnetised and attached to another magnet.

On the floor, in the middle of the room leading out, was a trail of a rich crimson liquid.

The window was broken too, from the outside. The glass shards were spread across the room. Alarm flared and he let go of whatever precautions he was going to take to ensure there weren't two trails of blood on that day.

"Doctor! Doctor are you alright? Are you here?" He called into the silence.

Someone in the distance groaned weakly, catching the Master's attention in the stillness of the atmosphere. He followed the trail of blood, careful not to stand in it, and was lead to the closet, darkness obscuring what lay in it.

His hand unconsciously moved to the switch and, unprepared for the scene before him, he flicked it on.

He was met with the traumatic image of the Doctor leant against the TARDIS door, blood pouring heavily from a wound she fought to suppress unsuccessfully. She had been there a while, the crimson below her gathering in a large pool and gradually spreading out.

The world stopped around the Master, the air he was regularly breathing now metallic and heavy.

Then there was a cry of anguish and tears of pain.


	27. Losing colour

"Oh, no no no no... Doctor what happened? Who did this?"

"TARDIS... I-I need to... take me there..."

The Master had to half drag, half carry her through the blood doors, ribbons of red being left behind. His shirt was stained in red, but that was the least of his worries at the moment.

She hung limp in his arms, occasionally coughing scarlet beads in front of her. He managed to move her inside of the TARDIS, resting her against the wall with care. Moving to the console, he glanced at her and then looked frantically around the console .

Hurriedly, he ran to her. "Doctor, first aid kit" The words were fast and he was surprised she could understand him in her wounded state. "I need it where is it?"

Her chest heaved, her breathing was loud and raspy and a yellow tinted whisp began to rise from her skin then spread into the air, fading away.

The TARDIS hummed lightly and the yellow pulsed, much like an alarm. The interiors once bright light dulled and faded to a grey, everything losing colour and resembling a TV in black and white. Everything but the two Time Lords.

"You don't have to do... don't worry. I can, I'll just," she grunted and tightened her grip on the wound, "Regenerate."

"No! You're not wasting a life when you can be helped. Tell me where the kit is and we can at least try to stop this. Better to try than not to at all."

Her eyes became dull, staring off into the distance, then they clouded with hurt and refocused. She nodded weakly.

"It's underneath... underneath the console"

Upon finding it, he opened it and scanned the contents. There were bandages and other things that were unfamiliar to him. He grabbed the bandages and returned to the Doctor's frail, crumpled body in the corner.

"Doctor come on, you need to move away from the wall." She muttered under her breath what sounded like 'I can't' and 'let me regenerate'. "Please, Doctor. I don't want to see you die like this. I don't want you to change."

"Sometimes what we want is different to what we need. I'll still be the same. We're all the same. Same memories and past, even if I have a new face and different personality, I'm still who I was before." 

"No. Not now. Not until you really have to. I don't care if you want to be stubborn about it but I am going to try. You can die with whoever comes next but you are not leaving me.You think surgeons just give up and say, 'oh, they'll go to the afterlife anyway'? No. They try everything to help that person to live again." He began to undo the bandages, the Doctor's eyes trained on each movement of his hand.

"You never cease to suprise me, Koschei." She said, the Master beginning to wrap the soft elastic cloth around her. "For better or for worse. That's the one trait that's never really faded. The one trait that's you. You don't need to do this, but you do it anyway because you care." 

He felt tears threaten to fall but he bit them back, focusing on the Doctor more than himself. She mustered the last remnants of energy inside of her.

I love you, Koschei. Always have and always will. Even if my next regeneration won't say it, I will.

Everything went black, and she felt relieved from pain.


	28. The Obscured Road To Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Master takes the Doctor to an old friend with hopes of being able to revive the Doctor, preventing another regeneration cycle.

"You are not dying on me, Doctor. Not today. Not in my lifetime or the next." He glanced at the console and touched a series of buttons and switches. "You are going to a hospital. One off of this planet. Don't bother trying to protest we're already going through the Space-Time Vortex."

He knew she was somewhat half-unconscious, dipping in and out of the darkness and hearing everything in an echo and blur. It helped him to talk to her even if she couldn't hear. It distracted him from the situation. 

The TARDIS jolted, traces of yellow streaks returning to it.  
Traces of hope returning to it.

She coughed, looking down at her hands and smiling half-heartedly. What do I look like? she thought. Sure, it wasn't the time for jokes, but it temporarily distracted her from the situation.

Trying to summon the strength that she didn't have, she applied more pressure on the wound, determined to survive long enough to make it to the hospital without losing more blood. For the Master's sake. 

The Doctor's bleeding had begun to slow to some extent. Maybe she'd survive this without having to regenerate at all. 

When they'd gotten there, it took a good few minutes of coaxing to persuade the Doctor to remove herself from the wall, certain positions bringing great pain to her.

It wouldn't be the first time she died in pain, anyway. She'd been shot before and received radiation poisoning. Heck, she fell off a building once. And there were certainly other worse ways of dying than any of that...

I guess you could say she was 'experienced' in this field.

New Earth was different to how she remembered it. It was quiet. Of course it was quiet. Around this time, Novice Hame was taking care of the Face of Boe, whilst a deadly virus spread through their planet. It was a risk coming here but if she raised her concerns she was more than sure that the Master would immediately deny it. Probably telling her that as a Doctor/Former Sister of Plentitude, Novice Hame could help, one of the best people at the moment to provide medical care.

Obviously, Novice Hame had her doubts, with the hospital being closed and possibly not having the right treatments for such a deep wound but, upon learning who she was and being reminded of her tenth self, she agreed to treat her, promising to try her best to revive her.

The Master didn't leave her side for a second, remembering the human experiments they conducted that ultimately got all who worked there arrested and the closure of the hospital. 

He was uneasy when they put her under controlled sedation as well but forced himself against his suspicions, recognising that they were one of the few chances of a safe, full recovery they could take. Last time the Doctor went to a human hospital, her seventh self had been operated on whilst still conscious because the drugs she was given weren't made for a Time Lord. 

Hopefully, where they tended to treat patients of all species, she could create a path to health for the Doctor to walk on.

___________

The Doctor, who was now laid on a clean white bed apart from a few specks of blood, always looked so peaceful in her sleep. There wasn't blood leaking through the new bandages Novice Hame had applied anymore which was a positive improvement. Only a russet coloured stain was evidence of any bleeding on her clothes and bandages.

He laced their fingers together and rested his chin on them, misery and suffering. Now both of his hearts were beating, feeling like they were ready to pop straight out of his chest. His whole body went stiff from the accidental startling of the Catkind child. 

"Uh, sir." A young child walked in, wearing similar clothes to those of Novice Hame. It was a little boy. He seemed timid and shy, but the Master knew looks could be deceiving. 

He sighed solemnly and mumbled a response. "Novice Hame told me to, um, ask you if you wanted to leave and r-return. She said it was very common for visitors to do so..." 

The Master's soft gaze never flinched from the Doctor. "I really don't have anywhere else to go." A voice that was usually so strong now uncertain and wavering mid sentence. 

His eyes glanced over the Doctor and then back to him. Sorrow was laced in his voice, understanding their situation as much as if he were reading the blurb of a book. But it's as they say 'don't judge a book by it's cover'. "Okay. I will inform Novice Hame of this decision." He ducked his head respectfully and exited.

Even if he didn't have anything else to do, and the Doctor's road to recovery was obscured by countless variables, the Master didn't want her to leave his field of vision, afraid of the chances that she could disappear and return unrecognisable.

All he could do now was place his complete trust in Novice Game's capabilities and hope that she pulls through. 

I love you... He knew it was pointless to try communicating with her when she was under controlled sedation, but regardless he said so. He never got to reply to what she said before she went unconscious. 

Now he was just speaking into the empty space in his mind. The familiar click of a second line stayed silent and he kept it open, like he was waiting in solitude for someone to acknowledge and answer his calls. 

But at some point they'll be able to leave the hospital. 

In whatever form that may be.


	29. Far From Over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor's road to recovery takes an unexpected turn.

Over the next week, the Doctor's state only improved. Enough for her to regain a low level consciousness and receive a weaker dose to sedate her. You could've almost mistook the Master for stone, never moving unless completely necessary. 

Under any other conditions, the Master couldn't stay quiet and always had to be doing something, albeit destroying a planet or drawing up a blueprint. He was never for 'peace and quiet' really.

The Doctor was still too weak to speak telepathically to him, losing vast amounts of blood had taken it's toll on her. Novice Hame had told him that her vitals were all stable and expressed her concern for the Master's lack of care for himself. 

He hadn't done anything but stay by the Doctor for the whole week. Not eating anything, or doing anything, was worrying. Especially to a medical professional. Seeing the Doctor in her dazed and injured state connected to nests of tubed was all the Master lived off of and quite frankly, it was substantial enough.

Even when the Catkind child offered him food, he refused, starvation never bothering him as much as the possibility of the Doctor regenerating to the chances of her staying the same. They were slim odds, but it was something he'd worked with many times before.

You could say he was 'experienced' in that field.

The child he did not know the name of tried his best, regardless. He was never unkind and respected the visitor's wishes. Through the feeling of guilt, he let the boy stay, answering the majority of questions he knew the answers to. Of course, the boy wanted to know who the Doctor was, explaining that he'd only heard of her in fairytales the elders of their kind tended to tell. 

He was good company, even if the Master didn't want any. 

Now, the Doctor remained constantly stunned, only partially understanding words said by the three people around her. It was a step in the direction of hope for both of them and it helped to lighten both of their moods.

"Hello, Doctor." His voice was level and controlled despite how much he wanted to speak an entire heartfelt monologue to her because of the very realistic probability of her taking a turn for the worse.

She stared blankly at the ceiling then her whole face brightened to a dull glow of joy, like she only just remembered who that exact voice belonged to. "Hello."

The boy observed in complete silence. The only reunion he'd watched was when Novice Hame returned from a trip to buy medical items from another planet. Even then it wasn't that long. And the Face of Boe wasn't one for emotional moments.

Hello, Doctor. This voice wasn't the Master's. It was vaguely familiar but she couldn't put her finger on it. A voice from years and years in her past that once brought a message and a warning. A warning of the very person beside her. 

Who are you? When did I meet you? She was thinking rather than speaking but somehow the voice had heard her. Maybe she was too weak to hold the barriers in her mind anymore. 

We've met before. You saved me from the evil scheme of Cassandra. In... 

The year 5 billion...  she said, dizziness evident in her words. we were on that ship... watching the end of Earth... my ninth regeneration..."

That is correct, Doctor. Our paths will cross many times in your future. And have once in your past. But now is not the time for you to leave this world. You still have much more to do in the future. You have saved my life and have many more lives to save in your future. This universe needs you. This universe needs the Doctor. Your time is far from over. 

She sat up, gasping simultaneously. The Master shuddered at the sudden movement, shock overwriting his statue-like state.

"I'm okay!" She yelled. She could only describe it as an impulse but that would've been strange. The pain had faded to a dull throb where the wound was and she felt much better than she originally had.

Novice Hame rushed in at the sound of another voice, but was reassured by the Doctor's mood. It was strange for her to see such a quick recovery, a complete U-turn in contrast to just a few days prior. Most patients with severe injuries took longer to heal than she had, the Time Lord biology in her being an important factor.

She smiled. "I see you're much better today, Doctor. I don't think you'll be regenerating this time around."


	30. Remember, You Are Not Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The positive news brightens the two Time Lord's moods but the Master's mind wonders into what it could've been.

"Doctor..." The Master stared, wide-eyed with a mixture of amazement and shock at woman who'd recovered from a stab wound. It was a miraculous recovery. He hadn't expected her to become well again so quickly and nearly believed he was hallucinating or even dreaming of this happening. Everyone but Novice Hame stared at her that way. The only evidence of any injury the Doctor had sustained was the blood that dried onto her shirt, leaving a maroon-coloured splash on it. 

Novice Hame examined the medical equipment she was linked to, nodding every so often. "Most patients do not make such a swift recovery. With a wound that deep and severe, it would have taken much much longer to heal. I knew recovery time varied with the species' biology, Doctor, but at this rate you will be able to leave, well, possibly even today..."

Joy was evident on both the Doctor and the Master's faces. She had managed to pull through and survive the blood loss. Now, she didn't have to regenerate. Now, she could stay the same person as she was however long ago she arrived at this hospital. For now, she was safe from death. 

The Master proudly smiled, still holding her hand and watching the now alert and conscious Time Lord take a glance at her surroundings. 

His eyes glistened, tears built up over the past week ready to fall from gravity. Excluding his years at the Academy, the Master had never really felt so proud of other people for a positive reason. If he'd ever been proud it was because he'd successfully detonated a bomb or his army conquered a civilisation. 

It was never because of someone he dearly cared about had recovered from an injury that wasn't even his fault. Or at least... he didn't think it was.

He hadn't been that bothered about who did it when he found her bleeding out on the TARDIS' steps, desperately clutching at the wound in her stomach to mitigate the blood loss she experienced.

Who had done it wasn't at the top of his priority list. She was. Vengeance was second.

His mind was cast back to the days where exacting revenge was always the first task on his list of priorities, just above creating reasons for people to seek vengeance. But he was different now. Surely, he still can't be fishing for a fight with an alien he didn't even know the capabilities of. But then again, the Doctor was the reason he was a new person in this universe. She was his priority. She was his everything. And he had a full intention to protect the most valuable person in his life.

The Doctor could've regenerated which would've been a much easier process. But sometimes the worst things in life come easy. She would've been gone just like that. A new man or woman left behind. A new person with a different personality and attitude. Regeneration can change a person to be the complete opposite of who they were before. 

An example would be the ninth Doctor compared to this one. From what she'd told him about that incarnation, he wasn't the kindest of people nor the easiest to convince. At least this regeneration was somewhat bearable. It wasn't like he hadn't experienced this complete change either. Even if he was always hell bent on death and destruction to everyone one and thing, and had the common trait of insanity, there was a slight difference that made each of them unique in their own right.

Regeneration was both a blessing and a curse. Sometimes more of a curse than anything else in the worst of situations. 

Days without use had made her voice hoarse and raspy. Novice Hame brought her a strange liquid for her to drink that was meant to help her regain strength that she may still be missing. It tasted like plain water with a grassy scent, but had a syrup-like thickness to it that reminded her of a planet she had visited where all of the rivers were slow-flowing. 

That planet was nice, she mused. Okay, the regular civilians were nice. Can't say the same for their justice system.

It wasn't as bad as she'd anticipated it to be, drinking the concoction in a few minutes. The drink left in its wake an unrecognisable aftertaste in her mouth that was, for some reason that could probably be explained with science, different from the taste of the drink she'd had.

Neither the Doctor or the Master recognised when Novice Hame had started to disconnect her from the nest of tubes and cables beside her because of how caught up they were in the contentment of knowing the Doctor had a chance of leaving earlier than the average patient.

"Just do not," Novice Hame tugged at a tube that was resisting against her strength, taking it out when she added a bit more strength. "Do not remove the bandages for a few days. Just to make sure that the wound has enough time to fully repair itself." 

The Doctor nodded a tad bit to eagerly, swinging her legs to the left and hanging them off of the bed. Most of what little strength she had left had slowly returned and she decided to attempt walking, losing balance and tripping into the Master's arms. 

He caught her, being caught partially off guard. "Easy there, Doctor. Or it won't just be my hearts you're breaking." 

The Master moved her arm around his shoulder and put his arm around her waist, careful not to touch the bandaged wound, scared of accidentally reopening it somehow. She leaned against gradually him, supporting herself to help her walk. 

She looked to Novice Hame and then the boy, her smile explaining how grateful she was on it's own. Nonetheless, she thanked them both then, assembling the mental power required to send a telepathic message, she thanked the Face of Boe for granting her this recovery. 

Thank you. I understand what I must do. I will protect this universe and everyone in it at my life if I have to. As I've always done since I started my journey in space.

Not only the universe. He needs you, Doctor. More than you may think and much more than he will ever admit to. The last two Time Lords and you never stopped to think that you are the only person he can truly relate to. The Master might have been your antagonist time and time before but not anymore. He is no longer a threat to you. We will meet again, Doctor. Whenever that may be. Always remember, You Are Not Alone.

Her breath hitched slightly, thinking over his words and relaying them over and over again. She knew he cared for her, but to what extent? He lead her to the door and couldn't help but wonder. 

To what extent would such a long and complex friendship go to to become more than what it had always been... just a friendship?


	31. Poles of a Magnet

The TARDIS glowed happily once again, you could even say it was brighter than before. Yellow engulfed everything in the TARDIS and the atmosphere gave the impression that it was filled with hope and joy.

The Master watched from the corner how the Doctor moved towards the console and smiled at its newfound glow, patting the crystal-like structure and feeling the hum of the TARDIS vibrate beneath her fingers. 

"Someone's happy." She chuckled, recieving a more prominent hum in response. The Master watched her support herself against the ancient Gallifreyan technology and laugh every so often, her eyes giving off a new glimmer of happiness.

"Not only the TARDIS, you know." The Master called after her, moving her attention from the TARDIS to him. He couldn't stop himself from smirking at the child-like joy in her eyes. The Doctor was alive and everything was back to how it was before. 

Playing with the controls and restoring the familiarity she often felt when using them, she set them on course for Sheffield, Earth. She felt the familiar rock as the TARDIS entered the Space-Time Vortex and latched onto the TARDIS. 

The Master did the same, securely holding on to a luminous blue and yellow pillar and grinning, stumbled his way over to the Doctor, grabbing part of the console right next to her. She beamed right back at him and gazed at the vertically moving Time Rotor. 

As soon as the TARDIS stopped moving and swaying, she yelled, "Race you there!" suddenly and bolted towards the door. 

By the time she was three quarters of the way there, it had registered with the Master what she was saying and she ran after her, deciding that this victory was an unfair one and will therefore never count in his books.

When he caught up with the Doctor, running through the TARDIS doors then the closet's, he found her staring wordlessly at the red and brown line on the ground. 

"I'll clean that up later." The Doctor said dully, and walked away, planting herself on the couch and testing her head on a pillow adding "Wouldn't want anyone thinking there was an attempted murder in here." 

Obviously, the Doctor would be tired after she'd fought for her life. He just wished he could do something to help her. To brighten her mood... 

Wait. 

There was something he could do. 

If he could remember where he put it, however. 

The door was open so he went to his room for a second and returned with the book he had been working on in his hands. He checked it again for anything that could have fallen off or broken in his haste to help the Doctor but found it as perfect as it was before all of this happened. 

Working up the courage to actually give her the gift, he walked over to the Doctor who sank into the pillows, her face down in them. After sitting down next to her, he nudged her with his elbow. She dragged her face to the surface of pillows and looked at him. 

"Come with me to the TARDIS." 

Sleepily, the Doctor frowned at him. "Why?" 

"Oh, you'll see very, very soon." He grinned and moved back toward the closet, avoiding the trail of red on the floor. The Doctor groaned and slowly emerged from the river of softness around her, following him to the TARDIS as the cold nudged at her. 

She walked into the TARDIS and saw the Master already setting coordinates, swiftly moving across the console. The TARDIS went into motion for a second and then stopped. Walking over to the doors and opening them, he revealed a black night sky much to the Doctor's confusion.

The Master sat down on the edge of the TARDIS, letting his legs dangle over the darkness, and signalled for the Doctor to do the same. All there was in front of them was a sea of darkness, then a small white shine steadily grew in size in the corner.

It crossed their field of vision, leaving a colourless trail behind. Another one crossed, this time with a red colour. A yellow one, then a blue one. Purple. And soon there was a river of colours shining before their eyes.

They admired the spectacular show of different hues and shades, the surrealism of the stars making them feel like they're in a fairytale or state of dreaming. Both of their mouths were agape with awe. 

His mind was cast back to the gift. "Here. I, um. I made this for you." Was all he could say without the traces of worry threatening to come to the surface, passing her the practically perfect book. 

The Doctor looked at it and read the title, then her hand flew to her mouth as she gasped at it. 'I Wrote A Book About You' was spelt out in the center with a golden outline, Gallifreyan words around it. 

She flicked through a few of the pages, skim-reading the neatly written words and stopping at one that caught her eye. There was a question and an answer on the page that made her heart melt just by reading it. 

> What do I love about you?
> 
> It's a long list. A very, very long list. I'd say it's impossible to list everything that makes you you. You never gave up on me. Even when I'd hurt you beyond forgiveness, you still kept the offer to travel the stars. After all I've done to you, no matter how dire or insignificant it was, you still care. That's why you're special to me. Because you're the only being in this universe willing to give me a chance and show me a new way of life. That's why I love you, Theta. Even when we were sworn enemies, I still missed what we had...

She couldn't read on, her eyes becoming blurry with tears. They locked eyes and, without even realising it was happening, they drew closer to each other, like an invisible magnetic attraction slowly strengthened between them, both of their hearts beating slightly faster than usual. Before they knew it, their lips had brushed together, both of them instinctively tipping their heads to a perfect angle. 

Two worlds had been brought together that night. After all, opposite poles of a magnet attract.

And destiny can be reached by those who support it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "AND THAT'S A WRAP, PEOPLE!"
> 
> 30 days of an ultimately unplanned story has been completed and somehow I still think I've left potholes :).  
> Thank you for all the hits and kudos you gave me this is now my most viewed work on here.  
> Remember to give other people kudos too, they're a superfuel for us writers ;).


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